Progress Texas Happy Hour: Recent Episodes
Progress Texas
We recap the wild week in Texas politics. Grab a coldie and hang! Learn more about us at ProgressTexas.org.
The staff, and special guest Julio Salinas, vent at the end of a long week that consisted of Texas-sized problems: from Gov. Abbott sending Texas National Guard troops to Illinois to Ken Paxton's ego, and threat as the top lawyer and candidate in 2026. Plus, what's concerning us and what's keeping us hopeful in these busy, chaotic times.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a stay of execution for Robert Roberson, who would have become the first person in the US put to death in a shaken baby syndrome case: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/09/robert-roberson-execution-blocked-texas-court-of-criminal-appeals
...A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Texas National Guard deployment in Chicago: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/08/texas-national-guard-abbott-deployment-chicago/
... Governor Abbott is apparently using this deployment to fundraise for his 2026 re-election campaign: http://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/greg-abbott-texas-national-guard-fundraising-21090617.php
...A new poll from the University of Houston and Texas Southern University shows that Texas Democratic Senate candidates within small margin of Republicans: https://www.newsweek.com/james-talaricos-chances-against-gop-candidates-texas-senate-race-poll-10855949
...The State Republican Executive Committee will convene on Saturday as part of the Texas GOP’s push to block Republican lawmakers from the ballot: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/09/texas-republican-lawsuit-ken-paxton-close-primaries/
...Travis County Commissioners have approved two contracts to use voter-approved taxpayer money that will help the county create more affordable child care: https://www.kxan.com/news/local/travis-county/travis-co-commissioners-set-to-approve-millions-in-child-care-funding/
Houston friends! Join Progress Texas in The Heights on Monday October 20 for our H-Town Hits Back live podcast taping event! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/houston2025event
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Texas Blue Action and Powered By People - already two of the Lone Star State's most prominent powerhouses in progressive voter activation and grassroots organizing - have announced a merger of Powered by People’s voter registration program with Texas Blue Action's relational organizing network. Executive Director and Progress Texas podcast regular Lana Hansen brings us the details on the formation of a truly unprecedented super-org, designed to drag Texas progressives to the polls en masse!
Learn more: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/themerger
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how to support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Protesters are beginning to mass in Chicago in anticipation of the arrival of National Guard troops, hundreds of whom have come to their city from Texas: https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/10/08/texas-national-guard-broadview-illinois
...A federal judge in Illinois will consider a restraining order against the troop deployment today: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/federal-court-weigh-trumps-deployment-national-guard-troops-126354288
...A new list of companies under the title "Governor Abbott Boycott" is circulating in response to our state's meddling in the affairs of other states: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/national-guard-deployment-boycott-21090650.php
The Texas congressional delegation remains neatly divided by party on the federal government shutdown, which now enters its second week: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/10/08/texas-lawmakers-dig-in-as-shutdown-rolls-into-second-week/
The author of the new Texas congressional map testified yesterday that with the 2021 map, he had been told to leave certain minority-majority districts alone - but not on the new map: https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/top-gop-mapmaker-describes-a-texas-gerrymander-ordered-up-by-washington/
...An attorney for U.S. Reps Jasmine Crockett and Al Green pressed that same mapmaker on his knowledge that he was manipulating districts full of voters of color: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/10/08/lawyer-for-jasmine-crockett-says-drawer-of-new-texas-district-maps-knew-they-discriminated/
Governor Greg Abbott has threatened to withhold state road maintenance money from major Texas cities if they don't remove rainbow crosswalks painted in solidarity with their LGBTQ+ citizens: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas/2025/10/08/abbott-orders-dallas-and-other-texas-cities-to-remove-rainbow-crosswalks-or-lose-funding/
Houston friends! Join Progress Texas in The Heights on Monday October 20 for our H-Town Hits Back live podcast taping event! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/houston2025event
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
We're joined today by Adrian Shelley and Cassidy Levin of the national watchdog group Public Citizen, who have uncovered a massive and years-long apparent pay-to-play scheme in which large-dollar donors to Governor Greg Abbott's campaign finance PAC appear to have been rewarded with very large, and in some cases, dubiously documented, state contracts - a situation that, while legal under Texas law, clearly raises considerable ethics questions.
Learn more about Public Citizen's Texas office at https://www.citizen.org/article/about-the-public-citizen-texas-office/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Attorney General Ken Paxton has issued a press release regarding a new escalation his office plans to execute against "transgenderism and Antifa", long on right-wing belligerence and short on actual facts: https://www.keranews.org/news/2025-10-07/ag-ken-paxton-announces-undercover-operations-of-leftist-terror-cells
Houston friends! Join Progress Texas in The Heights on Monday October 20 for our H-Town Hits Back live podcast taping event! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/houston2025event
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Around 200 National Guard troops from Texas have been deployed to Chicago over the protests of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, ostensibly to back up ICE agents: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WRl6UUwYGI
...Trump's pretext is a countering of "rebellion against the federal government": https://www.keranews.org/texas-news/2025-10-06/texas-national-guard-trump-illinois-abbott-pritzker
Congressman Wesley Hunt has jumped into the U.S. Senate race officially, compounding an already considerable mess for the GOP: https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-nightly/2025/10/06/the-gops-texas-senate-mess-00595553
During the El Paso trial over the new Texas congressional map, State Senator Phil King yesterday suddenly remembered a conversation with Adam Kincaid about race being considered in its design: https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/in-testimony-top-texas-republican-remembers-another-conversation-with-gop-mapmaker/
Professors at Texas Tech have begun to worry that vague instructions from their MAGA leadership about what and what not to discuss in class have begun to undermine the quality of their teaching: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/07/texas-tech-university-system-faculty-gender-identity/
A New York-based company, employing at least two Texas GOP operatives, has been awarded a lucrative contract to oversee Texas' new private school voucher program: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/odyssey-texas-private-school-voucher-21087243.php
Houston friends! Join Progress Texas in The Heights on Monday October 20 for our H-Town Hits Back live podcast taping event! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/houston2025event
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Governor Greg Abbott approved a request by Donald Trump to deploy Texas National Guard troops into both Chicago and Portland, Oregon, under the pretext of protecting ICE agents from Antifa: https://youtu.be/8QFKsX1s_lM?si=Xa-pRwaY6YGgoQ0S
...A Trump-appointed federal judge has temporarily blocked that move: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5540272-donald-trump-blocked-oregon-guard/
California's Prop 50, with which that state's voters will decide whether or not to counter-gerrymander their state against Texas, has seen recent lobbying by Fort Worth State Rep. Nicole Collier in San Francisco: https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/prop-50-fundraising-21066129.php
Texas LGBTQ+ students and their families face multiple obstacles as they try to continue their social groups in spite of new state laws banning them: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/05/us/politics/texas-lgbtq-schools.html
Texas is second only to Florida in the number of books we've banned from our school libraries - here are five of the dumbest new picks: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/dumbest-books-texas-schools-banned-last-year-40602086/
Houston friends! Join Progress Texas in The Heights on Monday October 20 for our H-Town Hits Back live podcast taping event! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/houston2025event
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Yet another chaotic political week (should we say, typically chaotic?) ends this Friday afternoon with our regular roundtable pod. How the Democrats can have the edge with the federal shutdown, what's at stake and what to understand about the court fight over the new state congressional map, a conversation with a new key player in the RGV and more - the staff breaks down another wild week in Texas politics.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can help support our work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Trump administration has offered the University of Texas access to enhanced federal funding - if it agrees to a set of conditions that will accelerate the MAGA-fication of the 40 Acres: https://thedailytexan.com/2025/10/02/ut-system-to-review-proposal-from-trump-administration/
...Academic experts see the adoption of this Trump "compact" as a dramatic capitulation to federal control: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/us/politics/trump-college-funding.html?unlocked_article_code=1.qU8.UTOI._IZAaVHmIUAQ∣=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Attorney General Ken Paxton and other GOP types are up in arms about accusations that TCU has cancelled a Turning Point event featuring an anti-trans activist - the school says it was never booked to begin with: https://www.keranews.org/texas-news/2025-10-02/texas-ag-paxton-to-investigate-tcu-over-turning-point-event-school-says-was-not-booked
The Texas Supreme Court has decided that it will oversee Texas' law schools - instead of the nationally-established American Bar Association: https://www.tpr.org/news/2025-10-02/texas-supreme-court-breaks-with-american-bar-association-over-law-school-credentials
Disgraced megachurch pastor Robert Morris has pled guilty to multiple sex crimes against children - but he'll only serve 6 months in jail: https://apnews.com/article/texas-megachurch-pastor-sexual-abuse-oklahoma-0ca16aa31d9d8e5a810d1e1e3483dce4
...Morris' victim says he didn't have the courage to face her and her family in the courtroom: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/victim-speaks-exclusively-to-cbs-news-texas-after-gateway-church-founder-pleads-guilty-to-child-abus/
Houston friends! Join Progress Texas in The Heights on Monday October 20 for our H-Town Hits Back live podcast taping event! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/houston2025event
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
As the second day of the federal shutdown begins, progressives and Democrats must remind themselves and others that it represents a last stand for affordable healthcare, and a stand against the destructive agenda of Donald Trump: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTM6Wvbc5/
...Should the Dems cave, as many as 1 million Texans may find themselves priced out of health insurance altogether: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/02/texas-republicans-affordable-care-act-premium-tax-credits-shutdown/
...Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer may have recently grown a spine as a result of pressure from the likes of Beto O'Rourke: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas-take/article/democrats-beto-o-rourke-chuck-schumer-21078866.php
El Paso State Rep. Joe Moody and Houston State Senator Carol Alvarado testified yesterday during the first day of the trial over the new Texas congressional map - while nobody appears to know who drew it? https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/01/texas-congressional-redistricting-map-federal-court/
Houston friends! Join Progress Texas in The Heights on Monday October 20 for our H-Town Hits Back live podcast taping event! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/houston2025event
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
The major turn towards Donald Trump by Texas Latino voters, especially those in South Texas, serves as a painful memory and a fearsome harbinger of what might be in store in the 2026 midterms. A major momentum shift would come in handy for South Texas Democrats - and one may have arrived in the form of Tejano music star Bobby Pulido, who has recently announced a run as a Democrat for the U.S. Congress, challenging incumbent Republican Monica de la Cruz.
Learn more about Bobby Pulido and his run for Congress at https://bobbypulidofortexas.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
In a federal court in El Paso, as of this morning, a trio of judges have begun considering whether the state of Texas can use the new congressional map - ordered by Donald Trump and eventually passed during a pair of highly contentious special legislative sessions - in the 2026 election. We're fortunate to have the expert legal view of attorneys Louis Bedford IV and Jason Smith, members of Progress Texas' boards, as this all-important legal procedure gets underway.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Democrats in the U.S. House hold the line against the gutting of healthcare, as Republicans skip town - thus, a federal shutdown has begun: https://apnews.com/article/government-shutdown-democrats-republicans-trump-fight-c4949dace66c18d6099b5e23fd98b049
...Reactions from Texas House Democrats, including El Paso's Veronica Escobar: https://x.com/RepEscobar/status/1973094484549177360?t=FQgnQH1kE5xW2fyhKK9JCg&s=03
...Dallas' Marc Veasey: https://x.com/RepVeasey/status/1973132078221778992?t=NJdRbi6jJ6LPtRkA7BhVcA&s=03
...Houston's Lizzie Fletcher: https://x.com/RepFletcher/status/1973147095885554004?t=aGRrGrJxec393f00LRu6_w&s=03
...San Antonio's Joaquin Castro: https://x.com/JoaquinCastrotx/status/1973139890939502813?t=8solSSLz8aNURDhFAiljHQ&s=03
...What does a federal shutdown mean for us here in Texas? https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/01/government-shutdown-texas-congress-benefits-parks-veterans/
A federal hearing on whether or not the new Trump-ordered Texas congressional district map is constitutional begins today in El Paso: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/09/30/federal-hearing-on-new-texas-congressional-map-begins-wednesday-in-el-paso/
...How we got here, starting back in May: https://www.tpr.org/government-politics/2025-09-30/the-texas-gerrymandering-trial-begins-how-we-got-here
Houston friends! Join Progress Texas in The Heights on Monday October 20 for our H-Town Hits Back live podcast taping event! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/houston2025event
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
In a matter of weeks, North Texas voters have the chance to flip a Texas Senate seat from red to blue, and provide another vote for sanity in a chamber dominated by the nonsense of Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick. Union president, veteran, and working class public education champion Taylor Rehmet is running against two far-right MAGA Republicans in the special election to fill a vacancy left by Republican Kelly Hancock’s move to the Texas Comptroller’s Office. Taylor spoke with our Executive Director Kathleen Thompson about his public policy priorities including affordable heath care, education, protecting Texas veterans, and this paramount opportunity—in a competitive district—where recent local election voters sent a clear message that they’re done with MAGA extremism. Make sure your friends and family in Senate District 9 (Bedford, Fort Worth, Keller, North Richland Hills, etc.) know early voting begins October 20 and Election Day is November 4.
How to get involved in Taylor’s campaign: https://www.taylorfortx.com
Progress Texas’ voting information resource GoVoteTexas.org assists voters in navigating election deadlines, polling locations, and the current status of the state’s changing voter ID laws in 5 languages: English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Mandarin Chinese, and Hindi! https://govotetexas.org/
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Governor Abbott faces multiple issues that could make him vulnerable in 2026, including his inconsistencies related to on-campus free speech: https://www.texasobserver.org/greg-abbott-free-speech-charlie-kirk-universities/
...His engineering of attacks on public school teachers who failed to sufficiently grieve the death of Charlie Kirk: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/30/texas-investigation-teachers-charlie-kirk-free-speech/?_bhlid=29b43cb8833938b9d33be0c7e1d0dbf7be829e1f
...And a growing "pay to pay" scandal, in which Abbott has apparently channeled almost $1 billion (with a B) in no-bid state contracts to companies whose executive have made large contributions to his campaign fund: https://www.newsbreak.com/raw-story-2096750/4254968215000-pay-to-play-donors-to-texas-gov-s-pac-received-nearly-1-billion-in-state-contracts
...Could Austin State Rep. Gina Hinojosa be next to throw in to challenge Abbott? https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2025/09/26/gina-hinojosa-austin-democrat-campaign-texas-governor
Even as they run ICE recruitment commercials on ESPN, Disney has taken a massive financial hit as a result of the Jimmy Kimmel suspension from ABC: https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/disney-reportedly-lost-17-million-paid-subscribers-in-the-week-after-suspending-kimmel-201615937.html
...Disney shareholders and journalists are demanding internal records on how the Kimmel suspension was decided, potentially resulting in lawsuits: https://deadline.com/2025/09/kimmel-disney-shareholders-deadline-legal-threat-1236565674/
Houston friends! Join Progress Texas in The Heights on Monday October 20 for our H-Town Hits Back live podcast taping event! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/houston2025event
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The new Texas congressional district map, ordered by Donald Trump to cut his expected U.S. House losses in next year's election, is set to be considered by federal judges in El Paso starting Wednesday: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/redistricting-fight-texas-congressional-maps-courtroom-determine-constitutional/
Could there be a THIRD special legislative session in Texas? Property taxes could be the excuse this time for Texas Republicans to ramp up their culture war on Texas colleges: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/be-for-real/id1840051875?i=1000729093370
...MAGA attacks on Texas higher education has been at a fever pitch in recent weeks, including new orders at the Texas Tech system against any mention at all in classes of gender identity: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/26/texas-tech-university-system-transgender-identity-restrictions/
Agriculture Commissioner and outspoken DEI opponent Sid Miller wrote a letter to UT Austin on behalf of a Latina student they had denied admission, appealing to their DEI mission: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/29/sid-miller-dei-letter-university-of-texas/
An Anson man has been jailed for threatening to shoot up a Pride parade in Abilene, out of revenge for the assassination of Charlie Kirk: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/texas-man-accused-of-threatening-to-shoot-at-local-pride-event-arrested-by-fbi/#x
Did you notice ICE recruitment ads on ESPN while watching college football this weekend? All the more reason to cut ties with Disney, as they undercut local law enforcement agencies: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-09-06/ice-recruitment-law-enforcement-commercial
Houston friends! Join Progress Texas in The Heights on Monday October 20 for our H-Town Hits Back live podcast taping event! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/houston2025event
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Our weekly staff roundtable covers the strife within the Texas Democratic Party over a shakeup of office locations, as Trump and Co. once again try to capitalize on another apparently political shooting, this one on an ICE facility in Dallas. We continue looking for the light amidst dark times indeed - but stick with us, we will find our way out.
Thanks for listening! Join the fight for progress in the Lone Star State at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Federal and state authorities, who were quick to characterize Wednesday's shooting that killed or wounded three suspected undocumented immigrants as an attack on the ICE agents who had rounded them up, say they have found writings at the home of the suspected shooter confirming that he was targeting ICE: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/24/dallas-ICE-shooting-fatalities/
...He is said to have acquired the rifle he used legally last month, and did not expect to survive the shooting: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/joshua-jahns-handwritten-notes-revealed-plan-of-terror-40600292/
...Journalist Ken Klippenstein believes the shooter was a product of a growing "irony bro" culture: https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/the-ice-shooters-motive
Public Citizen has uncovered a "pay to play" scheme, under which big dollar donors to Governor Greg Abbott were awarded almost $1 billion in no-bid contracts over the last four years: https://www.citizen.org/news/public-citizen-report-abbott-donors-draw-nearly-1-billion-in-no-bid-state-contracts/
The Texas Latino vote will be crucial in next year's mid-term election - and Texas Republicans are planning huge spending in pursuit of those votes: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/elections/2025/09/25/531917/texas-gop-set-to-push-back-on-democratic-organization-efforts-by-targeting-hispanic-voters/
Christian Nationalist crusader David Barton has been appointed by the Texas State Board of Education as an expert advisor on new plans to refocus social studies curriculum towards U.S. history: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/24/texas-sboe-social-studies-standards-david-barton/
Houston friends! Join Progress Texas in The Heights on Monday October 20 for our H-Town Hits Back live podcast taping event! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/houston2025event
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
An article posted by the Texas Tribune this morning alleges that a recent reorganization of office structure and locations at the Texas Democratic Party, including the relocation of its headquarters from Austin to Dallas, has led to staff shakeups that may undermine the party's efforts related to the 2026 midterm elections. Noting that all of those quoted in the story were done so in anonymity, we've invited Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder to give us an update from his perspective, and we also extend an invitation to those unnamed sources to speak with us, on the record.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how to support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Donald Trump and MAGA have rushed to blame the latest incident of gun violence in Dallas, in which three ICE detainees were shot and one has died...on the left? https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/24/dallas-ICE-shooting-fatalities/?_bhlid=0df430cf0996f8c2bbdc882fc4c66808a4e09676
...The shooter, who appears to have been much more interested in marijuana and video games than politics, doesn't fit the profile of either a left- or right-wing activist: https://time.com/7320384/ice-shooting-joshua-jahn-sniper-dallas/
Thousands and thousands of Texas voter registrations remain unprocessed, just days from the October 6 deadline, due to a statewide software glitch: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/25/texas-voter-registration-system-TEAM-county-election-officials/
The Texas Republican Party has invited ten of its own elected State Representatives to defend themselves against charges that they have fallen short of the MAGA agenda, ahead of a vote that could remove them from the ballot next year: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/texas-gop-censure-dustin-burrows-21063724.php
Houston friends! Join Progress Texas in The Heights on Monday October 20 for our H-Town Hits Back live podcast taping event! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/houston2025event
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Nexstar Media Group joined the Sinclair Broadcast Group in blacking out the return of Jimmy Kimmel Live to ABC last night, denying the show to viewers in both the Lubbock and Midland areas - we encourage you to voice your concerns with the companies that advertise on those stations: https://www.nexstar.tv/stations/
...Nexstar and Sinclair control about a quarter of the ABC affiliates across the country - thus, viewers in major cities including Washington D.C., Seattle, St. Louis, Portland Oregon, New Orleans and others were blacked out as well: https://www.axios.com/2025/09/23/jimmy-kimmel-return-sinclair-nexstar-abc
Jimmy Kimmel's full opening monologue from last night: https://youtu.be/aTZjo42xRH4?si=Td_SK0mWhbHjZn1j
Lawyers for the state of Texas, looking to undermine the arguments of opponents of the new Trump-ordered congressional map that it was done on a basis of race (as the Trump DOJ has asserted), are now saying that motive was "a mistake" - but that they want to keep the new map anyway: https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/texas-officially-walks-back-justification-for-redistricting-throws-doj-under-bus/
The ACLU has sued 14 Texas school districts over the new Ten Commandments law: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/texas-families-sue-over-ten-commandments-classroom-law/
Houston friends! Join Progress Texas in The Heights on Monday October 20 for our H-Town Hits Back live podcast taping event! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/houston2025event
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Jimmy Kimmel returns to the airwaves tonight, but the Sinclair Broadcast Group says they still won't run his show: https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/22/entertainment/jimmy-kimmel-returning
...Find your town's Sinclair station here: https://sbgi.net/tv-stations/
Even within Republican circles, the attacks on free speech to avenge Charlie Kirk are becoming too ironic to swallow: https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/charlie-kirk-free-speech-gop-21053192.php
...Similarly, Texas Christian leaders are getting fed up with stories of adultery coming from Ken Paxton's marriage: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/ken-paxton-gop-primary-divorce-21049167.php
More and more data shows that the Trump-ordered redistricting of Texas may have been designed around faulty assumptions about Latino loyalty to the GOP: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cnn-harry-enten-trump-texas-republicans-redistricting-latinos_n_68cc06a5e4b0aa8d99fe7dca
...Analyst Steven Weintraub is seeing similar signs in the tea leaves: https://stevenweintraub.substack.com/p/did-democrats-actually-win-redistricting?utm_medium=email
Houston friends! Join Progress Texas in The Heights on Monday October 20 for our H-Town Hits Back live podcast taping event! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/houston2025event
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A troubling number of U.S. House Democrats - including Reps Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez - voted Friday to honor Charlie Kirk, a notorious promoter of racist views: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/119-2025/h282
The same weekend as a large memorial event for Kirk in Arizona, Texas Republicans attended the Texas Youth Summit in The Woodlands, where they attempted to further radicalize Kirk's grieving fans: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/2025/09/20/531467/republican-representatives-call-youth-to-action-at-charlie-kirk-tribute-in-the-woodlands/
...Resistance is building against the push by Governor Greg Abbott and others to silence Texas college students who choose not to lionize Kirk: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/22/texas-free-speech-college-campus-charlie-kirk-greg-abbott/?_bhlid=4a9636c9afe8b0572ffda1819115a6e7d1f10ae7
...Senator Ted Cruz, in a rare moment of clarity, says FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's threats against ABC resemble those of a mob boss - of course, he's mainly worried about future censorship of the right: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/09/19/ted-cruz-says-fcc-chair-sounded-like-a-mafia-boss-in-threats-against-abc-over-jimmy-kimmel/
Perhaps surprisingly, a conversation between Joe Rogan and Matthew McConaughey finds Rogan opposing the posting of the Ten Commandments in Texas classrooms, and McConaughey supporting the new law: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/politics/article/joe-rogan-matthew-mcconaughey-21052729.php
Houston friends! Join Progress Texas in The Heights on Monday October 20 for our H-Town Hits Back live podcast taping event! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/houston2025event
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
The staff needs a weekend bad after a week that has seen Jimmy Kimmel shown the door and massive attacks on free speech on college campuses and elsewhere as MAGA exploits the Charlie Kirk assassination to its fullest advantage. Progressive America awaits what's next from Trump, as action against "Antifa" appears primed to be an excuse to target anyone they choose. Freaky times indeed - and we're glad you're here with us in opposition.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Donald Trump has declared war on "Antifa", which isn't an actual organization - so what does his declaration actually mean? https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-targets-antifa-movement-terrorist-organization-2025-09-18/
The push by the press to unseal the Ken Paxton divorce records has grown to include a broad array of news media outlets: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/angela-ken-paxton-divorce-seal-21053528.php
As the school year hits its stride, growing numbers of Texas parents are finally clueing in that Bluebonnet Learning may be teaching their kids Bible lessons - some of questionable theological legitimacy: https://youtu.be/aky6oCEV9sk?si=XGIgibSy_JKPypOp
The Texas GOP's idea to close their primary is a bad move for democracy and a bad look for Texas: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2025/09/18/texas-gops-closed-primary-plan-is-bad-for-our-state/
An unusually high degree of turnover is expected to result from the 2026 election - which, regardless of party control, represents a drain of institutional power for the Lone Star State: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/texas-congressional-delegation-midst-shakeup-21053185.php
Houston friends! Join Progress Texas in The Heights on Monday October 20 for our H-Town Hits Back live podcast taping event! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/houston2025event
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The suspension of Jimmy Kimmel's show by ABC for criticizing MAGA for politically exploiting the murder of Charlie Kirk proves Kimmel's own point: https://www.vox.com/politics/461887/jimmy-kimmel-suspension-air-abc-charlie-kirk-nexstar
...That same outrage machine is ramping up a targeting of transgender Americans - Amarillo Congressman Ronny Jackson believes they should all be rounded up: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/ronny-jackson-newsmax-trans-people-b2828571.html
...All while Governor Abbott, who oversees an economy equivalent to the 8th largest in the world, has the time to target a Seguin teacher for calling Kirk's death "karma" - further proving Kimmel's point: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/greg-abbott-teacher-charlie-kirk-21053442.php
Tejano star Bobby Pulido, as expected, has announced a run for Congress in CD-15, challenging Republican Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/17/bobby-pulido-launches-texas-congress-campaign/
Houston families are cowering in fear as ICE raids ramp up in Texas' largest and most diverse city - as public support for immigration has grown significantly: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/houston-ice-raid-police-fear-immigrants-hpd-scotus-21042697.php
Houston friends! Join Progress Texas in The Heights on Monday October 20 for our H-Town Hits Back live podcast taping event! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/houston2025event
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Attorney General Ken Paxton's lawsuit against Beto O'Rourke and Powered By People, accusing them of bribery and other campaign finance violations, appears to be near defeat in court: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/17/ken-paxton-beto-orourke-texas-democrats-quorum-break-15th-court/?_bhlid=a0e58d7d33f7fdf5a4ed837802f072ff1560ec84
Andrew White, son of former Democratic Texas Governor Mark White, is considering a second crack at the job: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/abbott-white-governor-race-21051521.php
Houston residents have been being buzzed by low-flying military helicopters this week in a joint exercise between the Houston Police Department and the Trump-rebranded "Department Of War": https://www.chron.com/news/article/military-helicopters-houston-21050797.php
A second Black Texas college student has been expelled from school for expressing a lack of support for Charlie Kirk on campus: https://www.kvue.com/video/news/state/texas-state-university-student-expelled-mocking-charlie-kirk-death/269-ff2b7021-ccd8-4518-823a-e377dae048ce
...The American Freedmen Legal Fund notes that, just as the UT Austin crackdown on pro-Palestinian demonstrators last year did, this wave of Abbott-spurred college expulsions violates the governor's own Executive Order GA-42, which protects unpopular expression on Texas college campuses: https://x.com/realAFLF/status/1968089395074044401/photo/1
An important factor to consider for upcoming elections: Texas has been found, for the second year in a row, to be the second-most-diverse state in the country: https://wallethub.com/edu/most-least-diverse-states-in-america/38262
...While the new Trump-ordered congressional map appears to rely on low Latino turnout: https://www.ksat.com/news/texas/2025/09/17/texas-gop-may-be-banking-on-low-hispanic-turnout-in-new-map/
Houston friends! Join Progress Texas in The Heights on Monday October 20 for our H-Town Hits Back live podcast taping event! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/houston2025event
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Great fun to gather with a big crowd of friends, both old and new, at Hopsquad Brewing Company in North Austin, within eyeshot of Austin FC's home stadium, for a conversation with goalkeeper and celebrated progressive activist Brad Stuver! Thanks to Landon Cotham of the Moontower Soccer podcast for co-hosting.
Learn more about the Brad And Ashley Stuver Foundation at https://www.bastuverfoundation.org/.
Learn more about Moontower Soccer at https://www.moontowersoccer.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can help support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Trump administration, using the Charlie Kirk killing as a reason, is pledging a widespread crackdown on progressive organizations, activist groups and media outlets - much like ours: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/us/politics/jd-vance-charlie-kirk-show.html
...A Texas Tech student's arrest and expulsion over her mocking of a Kirk vigil on campus is looking central to a potential First Amendment legal fight: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/texas-tech-student-charlie-kirk-21049660.php
...A Texas Education Agency invitation to parents to turn their kids' teachers in for insufficient display of grief over Kirk has resulted in almost 200 such complaints: https://www.click2houston.com/news/texas/2025/09/16/roughly-180-complaints-filed-against-texas-teachers-for-alleged-comments-on-killing-of-charlie-kirk/
Today is National Voter Registration Day! Make sure you're good to go for November's election, especially if you've moved lately, at https://govotetexas.org/.
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Comments from Donald Trump on American political violence echo his "stand back and stand by" comments just prior to the January 6 insurrection: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-response-charlie-kirk-melissa-hortman-shootings-rcna230825
...Trump also claims that investigations of key progressive figures are already underway: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-adopts-messenger-in-chief-role-after-charlie-kirks-death-2025-09-14/
...The first suspect apprehended in the Kirk shooting, later cleared and released, is a North Texas high school graduate - and he and his family are being harassed by MAGA anyway: https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/texas-high-school-graduate-charlie-kirk-killing-21047625.php
...The Texas Education Agency has announced a targeting of Texas teachers who failed to sufficiently grieve Charlie Kirk online, while free speech student advocates at UT Austin express fear of violence at future events: https://www.fox7austin.com/news/from-classrooms-campuses-how-kirks-death-is-affecting-texas-education
Details about the divorce of Ken and Angela Paxton emerge - the AG is accused of having another extramarital affair, with a "Christian influencer" and mother of 7: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/news-report-accuses-texas-ag-ken-paxton-of-affair-with-married-christian-influencer/
Austin friends: tickets are now FREE for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Proud to welcome Travis Central Appraisal District Board Member Sheghao "Daniel" Wang to join our weekly offloading session - one that's a particularly heavy lift this week upon the political assassination of Charlie Kirk. The time is NOW to address the issue of political violence, and get back to being Americans again.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A suspect has reportedly been apprehended in the shooting death of Charlie Kirk: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/09/12/us/charlie-kirk-news-suspect
Texas DPS has quietly been very actively assisting ICE in detaining suspected undocumented immigrants, focusing much of their work in Democratically-run large cities: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/12/texas-dps-immigration-arrests-trump-deportation-operation-lone-star/
A new UT/Texas Politics Project poll shows sliding numbers for both Donald Trump and Governor Greg Abbott, with both showing net negative approval numbers: https://www.statesman.com/news/article/trump-abbott-approval-ratings-texas-voters-senate-21041119.php
Puzzled by what Texas State Senator's divorce from Attorney General Ken Paxton on "biblical grounds"? So is the watchdog group Campaign For Accountability, who have called for the records of the Paxton divorce to be unsealed: https://www.fox4news.com/news/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-senator-angela-paxton-divorce-records
Don't miss a terrific shot of Dallas Justice of the Peace Adam Swartz filling his courtroom with bubbles during a wedding ceremony: https://www.texasmonthly.com/being-texan/dallas-judge-bubbliest-wedding-officiant/
Austin friends: tickets are now FREE for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
The murder of political activist Charlie Kirk on a college campus in Utah was an act of domestic terrorism that tears at the very fabric of our country, and threatens to escalate what is already a highly troublesome degree of political polarity. It should be, and has been, condemned by voices across the political spectrum - but it is also likely to be used as a catalyst or excuse for more political violence by parties uninterested in peace or unity. At Progress Texas, we condemn this horrible crime, pray for Charlie Kirk's family, and expect full justice to be done.
Learn more about how to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texas U.S. Congressman and House Rules Committee member Chip Roy, a leading Republican candidate for Texas Attorney General in 2026, voted yesterday to prevent a measure that would force the unveiling of files related to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking ring from being put to a vote by the full house: https://newrepublic.com/post/200213/list-house-republicans-voted-kill-epstein-bill
...In fact, NONE of the Republicans in the Texas delegation signed on to a petition last week that also would have led to the release of the Epstein files: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/09/03/texas-republicans-take-a-pass-on-bipartisan-move-to-force-quick-release-of-epstein-files/
...While Epstein co-conspirator and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell has been upgraded to a downright fancy federal prison "camp" in Bryan: https://www.npr.org/2025/09/03/nx-s1-5519224/ghislaine-maxwell-prison-texas-epstein
An English department lecturer at Texas A&M who was confronted by a MAGA student over gender-related material in a child lit lesson has been fired after pressure from Governor Abbott and other Republicans: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/abbott-texas-am-professor-21039346.php
Austin friends: tickets are now FREE for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Looked to us like a crowd of a bit over 1,000 under a hot Round Rock sun - with about 12 hours notice - about three hours ago at publishing time for Austin State Rep. James Talarico's official kickoff event for his run for the U.S. Senate! Great energy and a great time - looking like an interesting primary season shaping up for Texas Democrats! Enjoy.
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Austin State Rep. James Talarico makes it official: he's running for the U.S. Senate: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/state/article/james-talarico-us-senate-campaign-21036632.php
Governor Abbott announces an executive order establishing the sales restrictions on THC products that the legislature failed to pass after multiple tries: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/09/greg-abbott-thc-executive-order-21-texas/
...Can he just up and do that? https://www.texastribune.org/2017/06/02/analysis-governors-executive-order-doesnt-go-very-far-texas/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
In yesterday's SCOTUS decision to allow racial profiling by ICE in California, years of progress have been "foolishly squandered": https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2025/09/09/supreme-courts-immigration-ruling-is-a-huge-step-backward-for-america/
...Recent ICE detention horror stories include a Houston mother of nine who now faces deportation or indefinite detention: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/08/texas-houston-immigrants-family-deportation-belize-ice/?_bhlid=8e0e0663695b3812d0118f81adc1a3473c5a4b5a
...And an Austin man from Iran who's likely to be tortured and possibly executed if he's deported: https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2025-09-05/austinite-facing-execution-in-iran-awaits-deportation-after-weeks-detained/
Austin friends: tickets are now FREE for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Austin State Rep. James Talarico - surprising nobody - is set to launch a run for the U.S. Senate tomorrow: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/texas-rep-james-talarico-will-announce-bid-for-u-s-senate-seat-next-week/
...Talarico enjoys considerable momentum going in, both from a recent Joe Rogan interview and his own social media savvy: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/05/james-talarico-texas-senate-democrat-2026/
Congressional District 33, which would be newly-confined to Dallas County under the new Donald Trump map, sees a chaotic situation begin to develop for Dallas Dems: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz0jmb-6q5Q
The Texas Republican Party's plan to censure and block from reelection any sitting party member who has not toed their ideological line sees an opponent in Amarillo Republican megadonor Alex Fairly: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/14/alex-fairly-texas-republican-party-censures-primary-ballot/
A new survey finds that about a quarter of Texas college professors have already begun seeking work outside the state, and many of those who haven't are considering quitting, due to conservative interference: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/05/texas-faculty-university-political-climate-survey/
Austin friends: tickets are now FREE for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
The Democratic side of the race for U.S. Senate is heating up in Texas - but the very first Democrat to announce for the race was former U.S. Air Force Colonel and NASA astronaut Terry Virts. As election season begins to get real, Progress Texas is seeking to bring you extended conversations with as many of the most promising candidates as possible - really enjoyed this talk with Colonel Virts.
Learn more about Terry Virts and his run for Senate at https://www.terryvirts.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
If you're one of the millions of Americans who celebrated the amazing breakthrough of vaccines as a way out of the dark days of the COVID pandemic just a few short years ago, you've probably been dismayed at the antics of RFK Jr. undermining the continuation of that medical miracle, the undermining of vaccinations among school kids in Texas and elsewhere, and the celebration of ivermectin among Texas lawmakers. Plenty to complain about on In Progress this week, and we're proud to welcome to the weekly venting session our friend Cory Duty of the Lake Travis Democrats!
Learn more about the Lake Travis Democrats at https://www.laketravisdemocrats.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can help support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
As young progressives across the country continue to gain inspiration from the likes of Zohran Mamdani in New York, even here in Texas we're seeing fresh faces pop up in interesting places: in the cases of Ric Galvan in San Antonio and John P. Bowers III in Rowlett, the freshest faces on both of those Texas City Councils! We caught up with both of them to get an inside view of how things are getting underway, and what they look forward to tackling for their communities moving forward.
Learn more about San Antonio City Council Member Ric Galvan at https://www.sa.gov/Directory/Departments/Mayor-Council/City-Council/D6/Biography.
Learn more about Rowlett City Council Member John P. Bowers III at https://www.rowletttx.gov/directory.aspx?EID=674.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Texas Republican Party has filed a lawsuit seeking to close its primary election to registered Republicans - in a state that does not have a system for party registration: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/04/texas-gop-republican-party-closed-primary-elections/
The appointment of State Senator Brandon Creighton as chancellor at Texas Tech represents a further consolidation of conservative control over our state's institutions of higher learning: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/05/texas-tech-university-brandon-creighton-chancellor/
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression has joined several Texas college student groups to sue UT Austin over a new state law placing limits on campus activities at night - a law largely authored by Brandon Creighton: https://www.thefire.org/news/lawsuit-texas-bans-first-amendment-public-universities-after-dark
Austin friends: tickets are now FREE for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
Help Progress Texas avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
As was rumored, the second special session was brought to a close early last night as a huge wave of GOP priorities made the desk of Governor Greg Abbott, but other items fell short: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/04/texas-legislature-adjourns-special-session-sine-die/
On flood relief, bills on infrastructure and camp safety passed, but SB2, which was aimed at improving emergency response in flood-prone areas did not make the finish line: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/04/texas-legislature-disaster-emergency-response-bill/
Dan's Ban - a near-complete ban on THC products made legal by GOP hemp legislation in 2023 that Lt. Gov Dan Patrick had been furiously advocating for all year, finally failed last night: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/politics/special-session/texas-legislature-thc-deal-ban-hemp/269-0028d2c8-8899-4d06-b0a4-e71292539195
A new ban on abortion medication that allows Texans to sue entities handling those pills even outside of Texas, passed and is likely to be signed: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/04/us/politics/texas-senate-abortion-pills-bill.html
The long-sought and long-feared bathroom bill is also likely to be signed into law, despite doubts about its enforceability: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas/bathroom-bill-aimed-trans-people-awaits-governors-signature-texas-legislature/287-41339ea0-caa2-41ad-b4f1-374c4f8d0d97
A bill that would have allowed Texas law enforcement agencies to conceal records related to complaints against officers failed after the two chambers came to an impasse: https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/police-records-confidentiality-uvalde-21026729.php
A bill that would have paused a massive and controversial groundwater grab in East Texas has failed to pass: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/east-texas-water-pumping-21029821.php
Massive new penalties on future quorum breakers passed, rendering one of the last tools of minority resistance in the Texas Legislature much more painful to employ: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/09/04/measures-seeking-to-prevent-future-quorum-breaks-by-texas-lawmakers-approved-wednesday/
Austin friends: tickets are on sale now for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! Tickets are limited and are available here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
Help Progress Texas avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Governor Greg Abbott denies allegations from Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzger that Texas National Guard troops are part of a Donald Trump-threatened military deployment to Chicago: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/national-guard-chicago-abbott-21027479.php
...Pritzger warns us not to allow the militarization of American cities to become normalized: https://www.advocate.com/voices/pritzker-trump-invading-chicago
A racist comment from 2022 that Lubbock State Senator Charles Perry apologized for yesterday could end up part of legal challenges that the new Trump map is racially motivated: https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/texas-senator-apologizes-for-racist-comments-unearthed-by-democracy-docket/
Ken Paxton, reacting to his flagging numbers against Senator John Cornyn, says Texas school kids should be reciting the Lord's Prayer at school every day: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/02/texas-ag-ken-paxton-lords-prayer-religion-schools/
...Also as a Trumpian play, Paxton is now opposing a ten-year-old bail reform effort in Harris County: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/crime/article/paxton-misdemeanor-consent-decree-21015147.php
The second special session slogs on - the Senate yesterday gave approval to a bill banning abortion medication in Texas: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/09/02/texas-senate-gives-initial-approval-to-abortion-pill-bill-targeting-mailing-of-medication/
...Also yesterday, the Texas House reversed a new law, which just took effect on Monday, that would allow Texas voters to update their addresses on Election Day: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/voter-registration-law-21026519.php
There's word that some Texas lawmakers want to end the session early, which would leave Dan's Ban on THC and July 4 flood-related legislation incomplete - and perhaps set the stage for a third special session: https://www.fox4news.com/news/texas-special-session-may-end-early-leaving-key-bills-limbo
Austin friends: tickets are on sale now for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! Tickets are limited and are available here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
Help Progress Texas avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Yesterday, September 1, saw over 800 new laws hit the books in Texas: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/new-texas-laws-sept-1/3911795/
One new law we do like hits the books today: the expansion of Texas' medical marijuana allowances: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/texas-officials-publish-rules-to-expand-medical-marijuana-access-with-new-dispensary-licenses/
The second special session drags on, with a lot remaining on the agenda: STAAR Test elimination (rather, replacement), the cutting of property taxes, and additional punishment for Democratic quorum breakers are all in play: https://www.kvue.com/video/news/politics/special-session/bills-second-special-session-texas-legislature/269-18742f77-013f-4ef9-ae26-3a1195e1f099
Collin, Bastrop and Williamson Counties are all changing their voting procedures to direct writing on paper ballots in line with a Donald Trump executive order: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/02/trump-election-executive-order-texas-voting-machines/
In the wake of the deaths of dozens of children in the July 4 flood, three Kerr County summer camps are pushing back on floodplain construction restrictions being considered at the legislature: https://www.fox4news.com/news/texas-camps-push-back-laws-cabins-floodplains
Austin friends: tickets are on sale now for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! Tickets are limited and are available here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
Help Progress Texas avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Proud to welcome our good friend Jorjo Vasquez to the weekly venting roundtable - Jorjo is Communications Director for San Antonio State Senator Roland Gutierrez and is central to the fiery progressive messages that office is known for. Our weekly session comes as ivermectin is made widely available as new restrictions are placed on COVID vaccines, the decades-simmering anti-trans bathroom bill finally makes Governor Abbott's desk - and a potential game-changer for the political world down in South Texas appears to be priming for his debut.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how YOU can join the fight at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A flurry of new GOP-pushed legislation towards the close of the second special session includes the anti-trans bathroom bill that Republicans have fetishized over for a decade: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/transgender-bathroom-bill-21019516.php
...And a new vigilante bill allowing Texans to sue anybody who manufactures, transports or provides abortion-inducing medication: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/22/texas-abortion-pill-restrictions-lawsuit-manufacturer/
...And new rules that will allow Texas police departments to conceal conduct claims about officers that don't lead to discipline: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/28/texas-police-officer-g-file-confidential-personnel/
While Texas Republicans make ivermectin available over the counter, vaccine denier Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visits Austin, and new restrictions apply to the new COVID shots, a super-spreader may be underway among the members of the Texas legislature: https://x.com/miyashay/status/1960871483368202702?t=Usg0QEqmkDEhIP0NtOASlA&s=03
...COVID is, in fact, on the rise in Texas, and depending on where you live and your level of healthcare acccess, getting a shot this fall may prove a difficult challenge: https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/29/health/covid-vaccine-access-questions-healthy
Another nationwide round of rallies and protests on Labor Day Monday include dozens of events in Texas: https://maydaystrong.org/
Austin friends: tickets are on sale now for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! Tickets are limited and are available here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
Help Progress Texas avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
HB 25 - a bill allowing ivermectin to be bought at Texas pharmacies without prescriptions - has blazed through the second special session and is headed for Governor Greg Abbott's desk: https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/ivermectin-bill-clears-texas-house-angry-pushback-21016700.php
...The Texas Medical Association testified against the bill, but the Texas Board of Pharmacy declined to get involved: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/27/texas-legislature-ivermectin-otc-prescription/
...All while RFK Jr., 30 minutes late to a press conference with Governor Abbott, freely spouts conspiracy about autism and more in Austin: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/rfk-jr-plays-fast-and-loose-with-autism-statistics-during-rambling-press-conference-with-texas-governor-38381693
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has announced a seventh massive waiving of environmental and health regulations to allow five miles of border wall to bulldoze a section of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge: https://www.borderreport.com/immigration/the-border-wall/dhs-waives-environmental-rules-to-build-more-border-wall-in-south-texas-through-wildlife-refugees/
About 25% of Texas school districts and charter schools have signed up for the Christianity-infused Bluebonnet Learning curriculum, narrowly allowed last year by the State Board of Education: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/28/texas-schools-bluebonnet-bible-curriculum/
Ken Paxton, upon the Texas Supreme Court backing the 15th Court of Appeals blocking of his efforts to stop Beto O'Rourke's Powered By People from helping Texas House Democratic quorum brakers with funding, accuses those very Republican judges of colluding with O'Rourke: https://www.rawstory.com/beto-orourke-ken-paxton/
Austin friends: tickets are on sale now for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! Tickets are limited and are available here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
Help Progress Texas avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The NAACP follows LULAC, filing the second lawsuit against the new Texas congressional map ordered by Donald Trump that carves out five new likely Republican seats at the expense of Texas voters of color: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/26/naacp-sues-texas-congressional-maps-black-political-power
...Trump's plummeting approval in the RGV sheds light on why he's so desperate to shield himself from the wrath of voters in 2026: https://www.theborderchronicle.com/p/voters-regret-support-for-trump-plunges
Dan's Ban - the full ban on THC products shoved through the regular session by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick but later vetoed by Governor Greg Abbott, has stalled on its re-do run through the second special session: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas-take/article/proposed-thc-ban-texas-stalls-legislature-21016853.php
...At the same time, a bill that would make ivermectin available without a prescription has a decent chance to make it to Abbott's desk: https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2025/08/25/texas-bill-could-make-drug-ivermectin-available-over-the-counter-amid-misuse-concerns/
Former Trump doctor and U.S. Congressman Ronny Jackson of Amarillo, despite no longer being licensed to practice medicine, has proclaimed Donald Trump "the healthiest president this nation has ever seen" - at odds with obvious evidence to the contrary: https://www.thedailybeast.com/white-house-uses-disgraced-doctor-to-declare-trump-healthy/
Austin friends: tickets are on sale now for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! Tickets are limited and are available here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org
The Park Cities Area Democrats invited our executive director Kathleen Thompson and Dallas County Democratic Party Chair Kardal Coleman to explain what just happened in the Texas Legislature and what it means for Dallas County. On a hot summer evening, a packed room sat rapt while Kathleen shared PT’s viral clips, straight from the quorum-breaking Democratic lawmakers themselves, and Kardal and Kathleen discussed the second not-so-special session, the quorum break, political imprisonment from the House floor, harassment from a DPS escort/ tail, and what the new maps mean for Dallas primary and general races (spoiler alert: it’s throwing everything into chaos!).
Thanks to the club for the invitation and the joy of fellowship in these difficult times. Learn more about the Park Cities Area Democrats at https://www.facebook.com/pcdwa/.
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Houston Rep. and Texas House Minority Leader Gene Wu addressed the opening day of the Democratic National Committee's summer meeting yesterday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oo1tgO5Jhk
The Texas House Republican Caucus voted yesterday to crank up the penalties against future quorum breakers: https://www.statesman.com/news/politics/state/article/house-quorum-bust-sanctions-21014411.php
...Strangely, a move to formally censure the quorum breaking Democrats fell short - the MAGA mob is not happy: https://thehill.com/homenews/5469277-texas-house-republicans-vote-against-retroactive-punishments-for-quorum-breakers/
The Texas House State Affairs Committee advanced the latest version of the bathroom bill yesterday - it is now headed to the full House: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/22/exas-house-transgender-bathroom-senate-bill-8/
...They also advanced the latest attack on reproductive freedom, a bill forbidding abortion medication to be imported into Texas: https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/texas-abortion-pill-ban-bill-20827609.php
...Trump-era Republican strategies include vigilante lawsuits, insulation from court review, and lately, the "sue and settle" maneuver that lets Trump bypass Congress and state legislatures: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/25/texas-redistricting-trump-lawsuits-courts/?_bhlid=4e3cbbe9c0975580d05d460fb89ad84e4add5cc7
Ken Paxton is insisting, despite the Ten Commandments school posting law being temporarily blocked by a federal judge, that Texas schools put them up anyway: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/religion/article/paxton-ten-commandments-texas-21014419.php
...His insistence that the Ten Commandments are the basis of American law is disputed by many legal and historical experts: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/religion/article/ten-commandments-history-20824467.php
Austin friends: tickets are on sale now for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! Tickets are limited and are available here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Trump administration is planning to mobilize over 1,700 National Guard troops across 19 states, including Texas which will receive the largest number of troops: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-national-guard-military-states-cities-b2812837.html
...The only of those states with a Democratic governor is New Mexico, where Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has expressed disdain for Trump's deployment plans: https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/lujan-grisham-comes-out-against-using-national-guard-for-immigration-enforcement/article_9e51af6f-ad9a-4f34-8f1d-aa93898960a0.html
...Perhaps Texas IS in need of intervention - California Governor Gavin Newsom points out that Dallas and Houston have wildly higher murder rates than Los Angeles and San Francisco lately: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/california-gavin-newsom-dallas-texas-murder-rate-trump-greg-abbott-los-angeles/287-9565f3e1-b080-4aa7-8a57-f94f1e878509
...Trump is also threatening to occupy Baltimore, New York City and Chicago: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/trump-building-case-to-deploy-national-guard-troops-to-more-u-s-cities/
...All of which places even more importance on the mid-term elections, at a moment when the Texas Senate has sent that heavily gerrymandered map to Governor Greg Abbott to sign: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/22/texas-congressional-redistricting-map-senate-governor-desk/?_bhlid=2276038ea97d8d3a93bb0622be72c6cda7ee47d2
...Mere hours after which the first lawsuit against the map was filed: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/23/texas-congressional-map-lawsuit/
...At stake is a potential permanent Republican stranglehold on the U.S. House of Representatives: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trumps-redistricting-push-could-bring-decades-republican-rule-us-house-2025-08-24/
...Tejano star and possible future politician Bobby Pulido correctly calls the mid-decade redistricting of Texas "bullshit": https://tejanonation.net/2025/08/19/bobby-pulido-reflects-on-retirement-career-and-future-in-public-service/
Austin friends: tickets are on sale now for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! Tickets are limited and are available here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org
No surprise to anyone that the Texas GOP eventually (and as quickly as they could manage) got their way, and have gotten their new congressional map carving out a cushion of five likely Republican seats in the U.S. Congress next year for Donald Trump. The question remains: what do we do now? Pooja Sethi, who's running for the Texas House in that same 2026 election, joins us to discuss an insane week in Austin, and how this lays out the playing field for the next year.
Learn more about Pooja and her campaign at https://www.poojafortexas.com/.
Help Progress Texas avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Texas Senate appears ready to fast-track the Trump-ordered redistricting of Texas as soon as today, which would send the measure to Governor Abbott's desk: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/22/texas-congressional-redistricting-map-senate-governor-desk/?_bhlid=2276038ea97d8d3a93bb0622be72c6cda7ee47d2
...In California, a map redistricting the other direction is set for a November public vote - the trigger provision has been removed, so if the voters approve, it's happening: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/21/california-legislature-redistricting-plan
...Some Texas Democrats believe the Republican map leans too heavily on assumptions that Latinos who voted for Trump last year will reliably vote for GOP candidates next year, when Trump's not on the ballot: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/texas-redistricting-map-democrats_n_68a77e2ee4b0ab862cb1a518
...Austin Congressman and Texas delegation dean Congressman Lloyd Doggett has announced that if the Trump map holds up in court, he will not seek re-election in the 37th district: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/21/lloyd-doggett-congress-retire-redistricting-greg-casar-austin/
Republican Congressman Chip Roy, frequently at odds with Donald Trump, has announced a run for Texas Attorney General: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/21/chip-roy-texas-attorney-general-run-00517391
Deer Park Republican State Rep. Briscoe Cain announced a run in the newly-reddened Congressional District 9 less than a day after voting for the new map: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/21/briscoe-cain-congress-texas-9th-congressional-district/
Beaumont State Rep. and former House Speaker Dade Phelan, at bitter odds with the conservative wing of his party, has announced he'll not seek reelection in 2026: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/former-texas-speaker-announces-retirement-through-chuck-norris-video/
Austin friends: tickets are on sale now for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! Tickets are limited and are available here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org
Ironically, mere minutes after Texas Republicans pushed through a racially-gerrymandered congressional map ordered by Donald Trump to cut his losses in next year's midterms, we convened a panel of esteemed Black leaders from across the D/FW area to discuss the state of voting rights 60 years since LBJ signed the Voting Rights Act into law in 1965. We were pleased to team with the Legal Defense Fund to host a panel featuring former Dallas City Council Member for District 3 Casey Thomas, Grand Prairie City Council Mayor Pro Tem Junior Ezeonu, and Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons at the DEC Network Center in Dallas.
Learn more about the Legal Defense Fund at https://www.naacpldf.org/.
Learn more about the DEC Network Center at https://dallasbuilds.org/organization-profile/the-dallas-entrepreneur-center-dec-network
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texas House Republicans, surprising nobody, approved the new congressional map ordered by Donald Trump to artificially create five new Republican U.S. House seats yesterday: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8z4nj17dno
In response, lawmakers in California will likely vote today on a package of bills to put the option of redistricting that seat for Democratic advantage to their voters in November: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/21/us/politics/redistricting-california-texas.html
On the ground, the new map represents a dismembering of communities, combining Texans with broadly disparate views and needs together under elected leaders who will have great difficulty serving all of their constituents: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/21/texas-redistricting-congressional-map-texans/
On a broader scale, there are serious concerns about what the resulting redistricting arms race means for American democracy: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/aug/21/texas-house-redrawn-electoral-map-republicans-us-politics-latest-updates-news?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with%3Ablock-68a6ef948f0869bf40ece2dd#top-of-blog
Even after the most racist move by Texas Republicans in the modern era, Democratic and progressive groups remain undeterred - and they need you help now: https://www.lonestarleft.com/p/the-racist-maps-passed-the-house?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1220969&post_id=171530261&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=33j12m&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
Austin friends: tickets are on sale now for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! Tickets are limited and are available here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
After promising the families of July 4th flood victims that flood relief would take a top priority in the second special session, the Trump-gerrymandered congressional map is the only item on the agenda for today at the House: https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/20/politics/texas-redistricting-california
...California Republicans are getting nervous as preparations to allow that state's voters to approve a retaliatory redistricting of the Golden State: https://www.axios.com/2025/08/19/newsom-trump-texas-california-redistricting-democrats
...Several Democratic House members who had agreed to DPS tails have "ripped the slip" and joined Fort Worth Rep. Nicole Collier during her long-term stay on the House floor: https://apnews.com/article/redistricting-texas-nicole-collier-capitol-protest-10f8e3f721a507237d5272ccd1b2f81b
...Austin Rep. Sheryl Cole gave us details on a public altercation she had on Tuesday morning with her DPS handler, who grew frustrated after he lost track of her while she was walking on an Austin trail: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/update-austin-rep-sheryl-cole-on-public-scrape-with/id1552998795?i=1000722710239
...Meanwhile, the Texas Senate has passed all kinds of MAGA business, from the bathroom bill, to additional power to the Attorney General to press election fraud cases, to more leeway for Texas law enforcement agencies to conceal complaints against their officers: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/18/texas-senate-second-special-session-thc-disaster-relief-bathroom-bills/
Dallas/Fort Worth friends: Join Progress Texas Institute and the Legal Defense Fund in Dallas for a live podcast taping, featuring Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons, at the DEC Network Center—honoring the years since the signing of the Voting Rights Act and a review of where voting rights stand today, amid redistricting threats. Admission is free! https://act.progresstexas.org/a/vra_event_2025
Austin friends: tickets are on sale now for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! Tickets are limited and are available here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org
Another live update from what's turning into a pretty crazy second special session of the Texas Legislature: Austin Rep. Sheryl Cole posted to social media early on Tuesday that the Texas DPS trooper assigned to watch her berated her loudly and publicly after losing track of her on an Austin walking trail. We offered to allow Rep. Cole to tell her story, and she graciously accepted.
Learn more about Rep. Sheryl Cole at https://www.sherylcole.com/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Fort Worth Rep. Nicole Collier spent the night last night on the floor of the Texas House of Representatives, refusing a Texas DPS tail that Republicans have required for all of the Democratic quorum breakers to leave the Capitol: https://abc7ny.com/post/democratic-texas-state-rep-nicole-collier-slept-house-floor-protest-refusing-demand-law-enforcement-escort/17584775/
...A nonviolent protest and solidarity gathering on behalf of Rep. Collier is happening tonight (Tuesday 8/19) at the Capitol: https://www.mobilize.us/handsoffcentraltexas/event/830948/
...At least four of Collier's supporters were arrested last night after refusing to leave their vigil: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNhc65Ju5LX/?igsh=Y3czYnhocGV2ZTI0
...A new analysis of the Trump map shows that it will extend what is already a disproportionate level of Republican representation in Texas relative to the popular vote: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/18/texas-redistricting-maps-charts-analysis/?_bhlid=8e069a6f680e3d5c42668d3fccf9cea202d76672
...A coalition of legal defense groups are preparing their challenge to the new Texas map: https://thehill.com/homenews/5458835-democratic-aligned-nonprofit-civil-rights-groups-ready-to-sue-over-texas-congressional-map/
Those new Ten Commandments posters plastered all over your kid's school are causing tension: https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2025/08/19/tensions-rise-in-texas-as-students-return-to-school-under-new-ten-commandments-law/
The notoriously conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down West Texas A&M's ban on drag shows: https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2025/08/19/court-blocks-West-Texas-AM-drag-ban/9401755573254/
Dallas/Fort Worth friends: Join Progress Texas Institute and the Legal Defense Fund in Dallas for a live podcast taping, featuring Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons, at the DEC Network Center—honoring the years since the signing of the Voting Rights Act and a review of where voting rights stand today, amid redistricting threats. Admission is free! https://act.progresstexas.org/a/vra_event_2025
Austin friends: tickets are on sale now for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! Tickets are limited and are available here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
We are beyond proud of Rep. Nicole Collier of Fort Worth, who today refused to agree to a Texas DPS tail in order to be allowed to leave the Texas House floor. We talked to her live from there this evening, and will continue to follow.
Learn more about Rep. Nicole Collier at https://www.texasrepcollier.com/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Texas House Democrats who have stopped the Donald Trump-ordered redistricting of Texas for the last two weeks are expected to restore quorum today: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/us/politics/redistricting-texas-maps.html
...In Houston, Colin Allred calls the quorum break a success in buying time and building understanding of the situation across the country: https://www.khou.com/video/news/local/texas/quorum-may-be-reached-in-texas-house-during-special-session-monday/285-0a9ea4b3-d53b-4992-b165-1c44a5ce4332
...The quorum break has also inspired Democrats to up their efforts against Trump, and fired up the voting base: https://apnews.com/article/trump-democrats-redistricting-texas-california-newsom-9422a8300f5bcc2aa587bcb3811a1479
...An example of that fired up base, over 5,000 braved a hot August afternoon to rally against the Trump map on Saturday at the Texas State Capitol: https://www.kut.org/politics/2025-08-16/texas-austin-redistricting-rally-protest-capitol-congressional-maps
...Don't count on Republicans to dial back their efforts - or their dangerous and violent rhetoric, on which Houston Rep. Ann Johnson weighs in: https://x.com/voteannjohnson/status/1956737162277269904?s=46
Republicans on the Tarrant County Commissioners Court - again - are scheming to cut voting locations, especially those at area colleges: https://www.keranews.org/government/2024-09-09/tarrant-county-early-voting-at-colleges
...Commissioner Alisa Simmons sounds the alarm: https://x.com/commalsimmons/status/1957274231688851652?s=46
Dallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett says that should polling show her competitive, she'll consider running for the U.S. Senate: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/if-this-happens-congresswoman-jasmine-crockett-consider-run-senate/287-26b58ed8-f392-48e3-ac8c-61c7440346d0
Dallas/Fort Worth friends: Join Progress Texas Institute and the Legal Defense Fund in Dallas for a live podcast taping, featuring Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons, at the DEC Network Center—honoring the years since the signing of the Voting Rights Act and a review of where voting rights stand today, amid redistricting threats. Admission is free! https://act.progresstexas.org/a/vra_event_2025
Austin friends: tickets are on sale now for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! Tickets are limited and are available here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
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As the first special session ends, and a second begins - all but promising that the new congressional map designed to give Donald Trump a chance to elude the voters and maintain control of the U.S. House beyond next year will be enacted - we gather with special guest Wil Jeudy of Secular Houston to unpack the end of the Democratic quorum break, what they accomplished over the last two weeks, and what happens next.
Learn more about Secular Houston at https://secularhouston.org/.
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
As day 12 of the Texas House quorum break arrives, those Dems have announced plans to return for the promised second special session, in part “to build a strong public legislative record for the upcoming legal battle” https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/14/texas-house-democrats-plan-return-quorum-break-redistricting/
...They plan to wait until California's retaliatory redistricting map is unveiled, likely later today: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/14/us/texas-democrats-return.html
...California Gavin Newsom will ask that state's voters to approve bypassing their independent redistricting commission on November 4: https://apnews.com/article/texas-california-redistricting-battle-f0ac783b6a5fd6ecaab0ca419125b72a
...A Tarrant County judge has put off for about two weeks a ruling on a temporary restraining order against fundraising for the quorum breakers by Beto O'Rourke's Powered By People, Ken Paxton's push to charge O'Rourke with contempt of court, and O'Rourke's petition to move the case to El Paso: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article311706474.html
Ken Paxton finds his early polling lead against Senator John Cornyn to have more or less evaporated, as 80% of polled voters pay close attention to the ongoing redistricting drama: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/15/paxton-cornyn-texas-senate-poll-august-emerson/
After gaining the votes of millions of Texans on promises to improve their economic situation, Donald Trump's policies are directly putting the brakes on the Texas economy: https://www.wfaa.com/article/money/economy/texas-economy-job-growth-slowing-amid-trade-war-immigration-crackdown-dallas-fed-report-says/287-13e06c6e-ea00-4914-a8ef-a352fb725141
Considering the lack of condemnation from GOP leadership or their voter base, one can interpret the acceptance of recent racist comments from State Senator Mayes Middleton and Tarrant County GOP Chair Bo French as evidence that by nature, the Texas Republican Party is a racist organization: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2025/08/15/what-the-racist-attacks-on-democrats-say-about-the-texas-gop/
As another weekend of protests and rallies arrives, Progress Texas reminds you to show up, be loud, and be proud - but also be smart, and don't follow anyone into anything unsafe, illegal or destructive: https://www.fightthetrumptakeover.com/
Dallas/Fort Worth friends: Join Progress Texas Institute and the Legal Defense Fund in Dallas for a live podcast taping, featuring Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons, at the DEC Network Center—honoring the years since the signing of the Voting Rights Act and a review of where voting rights stand today, amid redistricting threats. Admission is free! https://act.progresstexas.org/a/vra_event_2025
Austin friends: tickets are on sale now for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! Tickets are limited and are available here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
An Illinois judge, approached by Ken Paxton under the assumption that he may bend the rules as Texas judges have, has declined Paxton's request that authorities in that state enforce arrest warrants against the Democratic quorum breakers sheltering there: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/13/texas-democrats-illinois-arrest-warrants-reject-extradite/
...The quorum breakers took part in a call hosted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee yesterday, in which Obama Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries participated: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/former-attorney-general-eric-holder-house-democrats-redistricting/
...It's important to keep in mind that Trump's redistricting push is an attempt to nullify Black and Brown voters - a fact that the mainstream media has failed to properly portray: https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/redistricting-racism-texas-abbott-florida-desantis-trump-rcna224891
Should quorum be re-established at the Capitol, not only will the maps move forward, but also plans for local police departments to have broader control over officer misconduct records and the ability to shield them from public and press view: https://www.texasobserver.org/secrecy-g-file-police-records-texas-legislature/
Trump and DOGE cuts, as they relate to the kids headed back to school, will unsurprisingly mostly impact programs designed to support and protect kids of color: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/14/texas-after-school-programs-trump-funding-cuts/
Has Texas already devolved into a state of "Orban-style autocracy"? https://www.salon.com/2025/08/14/trump-abbott-and-the-gop-bring-orban-style-autocracy-to-texas/
Dallas/Fort Worth friends: Join Progress Texas Institute and the Legal Defense Fund in Dallas for a live podcast taping, featuring Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons, at the DEC Network Center—honoring the years since the signing of the Voting Rights Act and a review of where voting rights stand today, amid redistricting threats. Admission is free! https://act.progresstexas.org/a/vra_event_2025
Austin friends: tickets are on sale now for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! Tickets are limited and are available here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
...The Brad Stuver interview will be co-hosted by Landon Cotham of the Austin FC podcast Moontower Soccer: https://www.moontowersoccer.com/
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
As the end of the first special session approaches this week, with another threatened immediately to follow, we continue our talks with House Democrats who have left the state to stop the power grab of Donald Trump via mid-decade redistricting - a tactic that grows less and less popular as more and more Americans realize what's happening. The Texas Dems are largely responsible for the spread of that awareness - so part of their mission is already successful. We're glad to welcome back Rep. Erin Zwiener, whose district in Hays County overlays part of House District 35, which will be largely erased by the new map.
Learn more about State Rep. Erin Zwiener at https://www.erinforyall.com/.
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Somewhat shaky reports have emerged that the Texas House Democrats away from the Capitol breaking quorum are making plans to return for a promised second special session, hoping for flood relief to be made the top priority: https://abc13.com/post/texas-house-democrats-return-home-second-special-session-abc13-sources-confirm/17515302/
...The Texas Senate tried to push flood relief to the top yesterday too, but failed - a walkout by nine of the Democrats wasn't enough to stop the chamber from passing Donald Trump's new map, 19-2: https://www.kut.org/politics/2025-08-12/texas-senate-democrats-walk-out-redistricting-special-session
...Attorney General Ken Paxton is calling for Beto O'Rourke to be arrested, alleging contempt of court as O'Rourke, after a restraining issue on fundraising was issued against Powered By People, told a Fort Worth rally crowd "fuck the rules": https://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/-he-s-lying-texas-ag-wants-to-arrest-beto-o-rourke-as-tensions-explode-244842565716
The NPR Politics Podcast focused yesterday on the massive failure of FEMA call centers to properly answer calls for help from the Texas Hill Country in the wake of the July 4 flood: https://www.npr.org/2025/08/12/nx-s1-5500118/exclusive-fema-didnt-sufficiently-staff-disaster-hotline-after-texas-floods
...Text messages between officials with the Upper Guadalupe River Authority show a lack of understanding about what that agency was dealing with on July 4: https://abcnews.go.com/US/assume-worst-internal-texts-emails-show-confusion-concern/story?id=124588857
...Even now, dozens of structures at 13 Hill Country youth camps stand in the Guadalupe River 100-year flood plain: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/13/texas-hill-country-summer-camps-kerrville-floodplain/
...To evade flood insurance and bolster property values, using a little-used process called a "letter of map amendment", several Camp Mystic buildings and nearby luxury homes have been drawn out of FEMA's special flood hazard areas: https://www.expressnews.com/projects/2025/kerr-county-floods-camp-mystic-fema-maps/
...The New York Times has released a devastating photo essay of the flood damage: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/13/insider/documenting-the-horrors-of-the-texas-floods.html
With kids headed back to school, RFK Jr. in charge in D.C. and generous exemption policies available to Texas families, now's the time for parents who believe in science to double-check that their kids' vaccinations are current: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/texas-parents-urged-to-update-childrens-vaccines-as-new-school-year-begins
Tickets are on sale now for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! Tickets are limited and are available here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
...The Brad Stuver interview will be co-hosted by Landon Cotham of the Austin FC podcast Moontower Soccer: https://www.moontowersoccer.com/
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Rep. Christina Morales of Houston holds the very special distinction of having secured the most progressive voting record in the entire Texas House during the 89th Legislature (https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/17/texas-house-2025-conservative-liberal-ranking/), and we're proud to (finally!) have her on for our ongoing series of updates from Democratic lawmakers who have left the state to halt Donald Trump's carving up of our congressional map for his own personal benefit.
Learn more about Rep. Christina Morales at https://www.moralesfordistrict145.com/.
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
El Paso State Rep. Claudia Ordaz, theorized to be on her way back to the Capitol, says she is in full support of the quorum break as she undergoes medical treatment: https://www.ktsm.com/local/texas-dps-shows-up-for-el-paso-lawmaker-rep-ordaz/
...Texas Republicans are pulling out all the stops against the quorum breakers - with the Trump agenda at stake, their zeal for retribution is in overdrive: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/12/texas-republicans-redistricting-political-power-courts-quorum-break/
...Texas DPS troopers, rather than doing their primary job of keeping Texans safe, have been reassigned to the task of staking out the homes of the Democratic quorum breakers - who will later be charged with related expenses: https://www.statesman.com/news/politics/article/dustin-burrows-quorum-break-dps-20812253.php
...Governor Abbott has thrown cold water on the idea that the Dems can stop redistricting for the 2026 election by delaying past the December 8 filing deadline - he says he'll re-draw them mid-election: https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2025/08/11/texas-gov-will-push-for-controversial-redistricting-map-beyond-election-deadline-as-democrats-remain-out-of-state/
...Governor Abbott also believes that should blue states including California respond to Texas' gerrymandering with their own, that he can and will eliminate as many as 10 Democratic congressional districts: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5447180-texas-gop-redistricting-threat/
The Texas Public Utility Commission is suing the Texas Attorney General's office to keep information about cryptocurrency mining power demand in Texas, claiming fears that releasing it will provoke terrorism (!): https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/11/texas-public-utility-commission-cryptocurrency-mining-power-lawsuit/
Former Texas Governor Rick Perry, an advocate for the therapeutic use of the hallucinogen ibogaine, describes in detail a 12-hour trip he took on the drug in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/us/politics/rick-perry-drug-psychedelics-ibogaine.html
Back to school parents, be sure to peep into your kid's classroom on the first day to see the Ten Commandments displayed by state law for the first time: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/education/ten-commandments-on-display-in-texas-classrooms/287-c04332c1-4ee4-44df-9053-e472790199f8
Tickets are on sale now for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! Tickets are limited and are available here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
...The Brad Stuver interview will be co-hosted by Landon Cotham of the Austin FC podcast Moontower Soccer: https://www.moontowersoccer.com/
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
All of the Texas House Democrats out of the state to stop the Trump power grab are making personal sacrifices - including State Rep. Ron Reynolds, who is missing his twins' first day of high school on Tuesday. Those kids, through the rest of their lives, will have a great story to tell about why Dad was away - he's doing all he can to preserve American democracy. No big deal!
Learn more about State Rep. Ron Reynolds at https://ronreynoldstexas.com/.
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
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Unlike many of the House Democrats away on this quorum break, Houston's Rep. Lauren Ashley Simmons is doing this for the first time, so her perspective on the measure and her sense of purpose might be a bit different from some of the other elected Dems we've interviewed from afar - and we find that she's as determined and as inspiring as ever.
Learn more about Rep. Lauren Ashley Simmons at https://www.laurenashleysimmons.com/.
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
After Friday's Texas House quorum scare - in which one more Democrat, Rep. Mary Gonzales, showed up - the House will try again this afternoon at 1: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/texas-legislature-swing-redistricting-vote-democrats-extend-walkout-124533839
...Texas Monthly comes up with a solid nickname for the Dems who have lined up for the Republicans, in the "housebodies": https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/the-texas-democrats-who-stayed-behind/
...Why are Governor Abbott and Texas Republicans so upset about this quorum break, compared to those of the past? The answer is simply the accommodating of Donald Trump: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/08/08/heres-why-greg-abbott-gop-using-hardball-tactics-to-bring-back-quorum-busting-democrats/
...Attorney General Ken Paxton got a Fort Worth judge to agree to block funding for the quorum breakers from Beto O'Rourke's Powered By People, while Beto has countersued to get Paxton out of his business: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/08/beto-orourke-texas-democrats-ken-paxton-fundraising-quorum-break/
...Faultlines in Republican unity are showing up in the ongoing conflict between Senator John Cornyn and Ken Paxton: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5443855-texas-senate-redistricting-fight/
...As well as Texas Republican Party plans to censure, and possibly block from reelection, any GOP elected whom they find insufficiently radical: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/11/texas-gop-republican-party-censures-primary-ballot-dustin-burrows/?_bhlid=f03c1c69eee8b8e0c46b450567f17bf828bf7095
Tickets are on sale now for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! Tickets are limited and are available here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
...The Brad Stuver interview will be co-hosted by Landon Cotham of the Austin FC podcast Moontower Soccer: https://www.moontowersoccer.com/
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
We're joined for our weekly complaining session this week by Lana Hansen, Executive Director of Texas Blue Action, just as word comes down from Nancy Thompson of Mothers Against Greg Abbott that she believes enough Democrats will return from the quorum break today to allow Texas House Republicans to establish quorum and hold a vote - which will pass in such a case - on new congressional maps that will likely deliver five additional U.S. House seats to the Republicans and Donald Trump.
Learn more about Texas Blue Action at https://www.texasblueaction.com/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Republicans in the Texas House plan to convene today at 1pm to try to advance Trump's congressional map - unless there are at least six quorum breakers planning to show up, they will not be able to establish quorum: https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/08/politics/texas-redistricting-friday-updates
Governor Abbott is promising years of special sessions to wait out the quorum breakers - who really just have to hold out long enough to stop the new map from being used for the 2026 midterms: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/texas-gov-greg-abbott-moves-amp-pressure-democrats-fled-redistricting-rcna223581
Senator John Cornyn's boasts that Kash Patel's FBI will be "hunting down" the Texas Democrats is met with ridicule from Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker: https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/07/fbi-to-help-find-texas-democrats-illinois/
...The FBI, in fact, has little jurisdiction to arrest anyone in Illinois, as no charges have been filed against any of those Texas lawmakers: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/senator-cornyn-says-fbi-will-help-track-down-texas-democrats-who-fled-over-2025-08-07/
...Such federal assistance would also fly in the face of longstanding tradition in Texas related to taking care of our own business and resisting federal bailouts: https://www.vox.com/politics/442491/texas-gerrymandering-republicans-democrats-redistricting-midterms
...Today also sees Governor Abbott's 5pm deadline for the Texas Supreme Court to remove House Minority Leader Gene Wu from office - it's not likely to happen, and if it does, isn't going to fix Abbott's problem: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-redistricting-gene-wu-lawsuit-fbi-investigation/285-155a9378-836b-4167-b853-42ea6bd125ee
...Ken Paxton has been judge shopping in Illinois, asking the Eighth Judicial Circuit Court in rural Trump country to enforce Texas' civil arrest warrants against the quorum breakers: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/07/paxton-texas-democrats-illinois-enforce-arrest-warrants/
...Beyond the goal of stopping Trump's Texas map, is the bigger goal of inspiring the country to resist the growing authoritarianism of the Trump regime: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/08/texas-democrats-legislature-redistricting-congressional-maps/
Tickets are on sale now for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! Tickets are limited and are available here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
...The Brad Stuver interview will be co-hosted by Landon Cotham of the Austin FC podcast Moontower Soccer: https://www.moontowersoccer.com/
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
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We've been fans of Rep. Ann Johnson of Houston for a long time, and while we wish our first visit with her were not under such stressful circumstances, we're glad to have her take this morning. The Texas Democratic quorum break to stop Greg Abbott and the Republican Party of Texas from granting Donald Trump's wish to screw the voters of our state out of five more congressional seats enters its fourth day today.
Learn more about Rep. Ann Johnson at https://annjohnson.com/.
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Yesterday's bomb threat against the hotel where Texas Democratic quorum breakers were staying - some with children, and surrounded by innocent bystanders - has thus far not been condemned by any Republican in elected office: https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/bomb-threat-at-illinois-hotel-where-dozens-of-texas-democrats-are-staying-244482629733
Targeted in particular for removal from office by Governor Abbott, House Minority Leader Gene Wu has also found himself the target of (even more) anti-Asian racism: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/06/texas-house-democrat-gene-wu-anti-asian-mayes-middleton/
Another side effect of all of this, a significant bump in Rep. Wu's national public profile: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/07/us/politics/texas-redistricting-gene-wu.html
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker continues to pledge that he will shield the quorum breakers from federal arrest as long as they are in his state: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5440204-pritzker-law-texas-democrats-arrest/
Legal experts are in general agreement that federal law enforcement has no business involving itself in Illinois: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5439973-fbi-texas-democrats-return/
Back in Texas, Ken Paxton - a man once impeached for bribery - is probing Beto O'Rourke's Powered By People organization on the notion that they have committed bribery by helping with the quorum breakers' travel expenses: https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/politics/2025/08/07/ken-paxton-probes-beto-orourke-pac-over-texas-democrats-travel-funds/85555895007/
Please help Progress Texas continue our important work as the 60th anniversary of LBJ's signing of the federal Voting Rights Act arrives: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/60th_vra
Tickets are on sale now for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! Tickets are limited and are available here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
...The Brad Stuver interview will be co-hosted by Landon Cotham of the Austin FC podcast Moontower Soccer: https://www.moontowersoccer.com/
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
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This next update from afar is the first to come to Progress Texas after the news of a bomb threat that required the evacuation of an Illinois hotel where several of the quorum breaking Texas House Democrats - and in some cases, their families and kids - are sheltering as they put the brakes on Governor Abbott's carving up of Texas' congressional maps on the orders of Donald Trump. As Austin State Rep. John Bucy reminds us, this frightening moment is the direct result of inflammatory and highly irresponsible Republican rhetoric from some of that party's highest ranking electeds - officials who now should see it within their duty to dial back the drama.
Learn more about State Rep. John Bucy III at https://bucyfortexas.com/.
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
In developments leading into the third day of the Texas House quorum break, Senator John Cornyn has requested that the FBI intervene, capture and transport the Democratic lawmakers avoiding the special session back to the Capitol: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cornyn-fbi-arrest-texas-democrats_n_68925f14e4b0d3424bc402f3
...Next, Attorney General Ken Paxton declared he'll ask that the seats of any Democrats still absent on Friday be declared vacant by the courts: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/08/05/texas-ag-ken-paxton-will-ask-state-courts-to-declare-absent-house-democratic-seats-vacant/
...Then, Governor Greg Abbott asked the Texas Supreme Court to remove Democratic State House Minority Leader Gene Wu from office by 5pm on Thursday: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/08/05/gov-greg-abbott-asks-texas-supreme-court-to-remove-house-democratic-chair-gene-wu/
...Then, Paxton piped up that Abbott doesn't have the authority to make that move, and the Governor took to social media to counter that he does: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/05/texas-democrats-ken-paxton-court-vacate-seats-quorum-break/
...Meanwhile, Cornyn has been badmouthing Paxton, ahead of their likely GOP primary faceoff, for doing all of this from vacation: https://www.rawstory.com/cornyn-paxton/
...And Houston State Senator Mayes Middleton, who's running to replace Paxton at Attorney General, issued a blatantly racist tweet against Rep. Wu, which remains up this morning: https://x.com/mayes_middleton/status/1952430829587829074
All of this Republican crazy provides a unique opportunity for national Democrats to display some backbone ahead of the 2028 presidential election: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/abbott-texas-redistricting-newsom-pritzker-b2802534.html
Please help Progress Texas continue our important work as the 60th anniversary of LBJ's signing of the federal Voting Rights Act arrives today: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/60th_vra
Austin friends and soccer fans! Mark your calendar for Monday September 15, when we will gather for a live podcast taping with legendary Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver! Sponsorship opportunities are available now, and individual tickets will go on sale soon: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
...The Brad Stuver interview will be co-hosted by Landon Cotham of the terrific Austin FC podcast Moontower Soccer: https://www.moontowersoccer.com/
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
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Our series of updates from Texas House Democrats who have left the state to halt the Republican redistricting effort continues, and just as we were linking up with Rep. Ana-Maria Rodriguez Ramos, we learned that U.S. Senator John Cornyn has begun cajoling Kash Patel and the FBI to intervene in the Texas House quorum break - a serious, though expected, escalation: https://www.axios.com/2025/08/05/john-cornyn-fbi-arrest-democrats-texas
Learn more about Rep. Ana-Maria Rodriguez-Ramos at https://www.ramos4texas.com/.
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As the special session has been halted by a Democratic quorum break, we continue our series of updates from the elected officials involved, now shifting to those who have uprooted their personal lives to leave the state in order to stop the Trump-commanded and Abbott-facilitated congressional power grab in Texas - first from the road is Austin State Rep. Vikki Goodwin, who recently joined Progress Texas to announce her run for Lieutenant Governor in 2026.
Learn more about Rep. Vikki Goodwin and her campaign at https://vikkigoodwin.com/.
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The national fight over partisan redistricting is settling into a direct battle between Texas and California: https://apnews.com/article/redistricting-texas-california-house-map-trump-0f5f79185bbeeba8c2ff9999f48e5867
...Governor Abbott shows no sign of backing down, saying that the State House Democrats who have left the state to break quorum are "freaking out": https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5436035-texas-governor-greg-abbott-democrats-gop-plans/
...Yesterday's vote to issue warrants for the quorum breakers is largely meaningless, as they are only enforceable within state lines and don't carry civil or criminal charges: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/04/texas-democrats-house-warrants-arrest-quorum-break/
...Abbott's threat to remove the Dems from office will be legally difficult, and if done successfully would almost certainly result in new Democrats in those seats: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/03/texas-house-democrats-abbott-threatens-removal-quorum-break/
...The Houston Chronicle editorial board worries that Abbott and Donald Trump will dream up a pretext to send federal officers after the quorum breakers: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/texas-redistricting-democrats-quorum-greg-abbott-20800785.php
Austin friends and soccer fans! Mark your calendar for Monday September 15, when we will gather for a live podcast taping with legendary Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver! Sponsorship opportunities are available now, and individual tickets will go on sale soon: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
...The Brad Stuver interview will be co-hosted by Landon Cotham of the terrific Austin FC podcast Moontower Soccer: https://www.moontowersoccer.com/
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
After weeks of warnings, most of the Democratic delegation to the Texas House of Representatives has left the state to break quorum ahead of a vote on a Trump-ordered redistricting map: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/03/texas-democrats-quorum-break-redistricting-map/
...Many of them are in Chicago, where they were met at the airport last night by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzger: https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/03/texas-house-democrats-flee-to-chicago-over-congressional-redistricting/
...Governor Abbott is leaning on obscure legal angles to threaten to remove the quorum breakers from office, and perhaps to charge them with felonies related to fundraising: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/03/texas-house-democrats-abbott-threatens-removal-quorum-break/
...All of this could be the trigger of a nationwide redistricting "arms race" that could further worsen already terrible political division: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/08/04/after-texas-does-it-mid-decade-redistricting-could-go-national/
...Want to support the Texas Democratic Party's efforts to "fight back against Republican efforts to steal congressional districts"? Click here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/tdp_redistricting
Austin friends and soccer fans! Mark your calendar for Monday September 15, when we will gather for a live podcast taping with legendary Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver! Sponsorship opportunities are available now, and individual tickets will go on sale soon: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
...The Brad Stuver interview will be co-hosted by Landon Cotham of the terrific Austin FC podcast Moontower Soccer: https://www.moontowersoccer.com/
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
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Our weekly gathering happens while the final hearing on the Donald Trump-ordered redistricting of Texas for the sole purpose of protecting him from losing the GOP majority in the U.S. House next year - widely expected to happen without this kind of drastic measure - is even now ongoing at the Capitol. We sent Digital Associate Haley Smith into the fray to see what's what - she reports live from the scene, complete with interviews including Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder, whose hat choices in headwear lately are damn straight on point.
As we approach the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act passed under President and Texas Democrat Lyndon Baines Johnson, Progress Texas invites YOU to help us shine a spotlight on the truth—from our coalition work introducing the Barbara Jordan Texas Voting Rights Act in the 89th Legislative Session, to a live podcast taping with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in Dallas on where voting rights stand today, to rapid response coverage of stop the steal rallies (attended by thousands and digitally brought to hundreds of thousands), to shaping the narrative in legacy media. Your donation is key to keeping us in this fight, and every penny helps - thank you. Join us here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/60th_vra
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The last hearing by the State Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting on the Donald Trump-ordered redistricting of Texas' congressional district is expected to draw a massive crowd in opposition today: https://www.khou.com/article/news/politics/register-texas-redistricting-hearing-districts-austin/285-3b6de0f7-f03e-4ffb-9317-3c52432afe37
...National Democrats are pledging to back their Texas counterparts, including a visit this week from U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York: https://www.fox7austin.com/news/hakeem-jefferies-joins-texas-democrats-help-fight-redistricting-effort
...California Governor Gavin Newsom is looking at the first Tuesday in November for a possible special election to allow the retaliatory redistricting of that state, which could result in a 48-4 Democratic advantage: https://www.kcra.com/article/california-governor-gavin-newsom-possible-nov-4-special-election/65568148
...The Texas Trump power grab is seen as a key, nationwide test case: will the Democratic Party show the stomach to actually stand up to Donald Trump? Texas is very much in the spotlight: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/opinion/texas-redistricting-democrats.html
The near-unbelievable fact that three of the primary public safety officials in Kerr County literally slept through the July 4 flood was central to yesterday's hearing on the matter in Kerrville yesterday: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/31/texas-kerr-county-officials-asleep-july-4-floods-hill-country/?_bhlid=52832be772a841f91bf27e4ab4a29a26cbf1747c
...Even before nightfall, though, local officials in Kerr County appear to have neglected to follow the basics of their own emergency plan: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/31/kerr-county-emergency-plan/
...Social media influencers who descended upon the flood zone highlight the difference between them and actual journalists: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/influencers-in-flood-zone-spark-concern-texas-monthly/
Austin friends and soccer fans! Mark your calendar for Monday September 15, when we will gather for a live podcast taping with legendary Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver! Sponsorship opportunities are available now, and individual tickets will go on sale soon: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
...The Brad Stuver interview will be co-hosted by Landon Cotham of the terrific Austin FC podcast Moontower Soccer: https://www.moontowersoccer.com/
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
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For this next special session update, we welcome for the first time State Rep. Josey Garcia, who represents San Antonio's 124th House District and is the first active duty woman veteran to serve in the Texas House! Now that the GOP maps have been released, we see the shameful extent of their racist power grab - and Rep. Garcia has a thing or two to say about it. We've been looking forward to this talk!
Learn more about State Rep. Josey Garcia at https://www.joseygarcia.com/.
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive.
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The revealing of new congressional maps ordered by Donald Trump show the extend of the damage they threaten against representative democracy - especially in Texas' biggest cities: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/07/30/congressional-plan-would-flip-five-seats-from-democrats-to-republicans/
...The blue dots on the Texas political map, centered on our major metropolitan areas, get a lot smaller and fainter in this new map: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/30/texas-redistricting-congressional-maps-house-republicans/?_bhlid=40de7e02fe98891fbb5d818a3f4add59b0359b2a
...Talk of a Texas House quorum break intensifies - but again, why isn't there similar talk in the Texas Senate? The reasons are many, and uncomfortable: https://www.lonestarleft.com/p/senate-democrats-are-not-off-the?r=33j12m&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Members of Texas' Select Committees on Disaster Preparedness are set to meet with Kerrville and Kerr County officials - and the local public - on the July 4 flood today: https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/31/us/texas-flooding-hearing-testimony
Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is alleged to have asked a friend to dispose of a bunch of cannabis back in 2022, fearing it would be found in his possession by the DEA: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/31/sid-miller-hemp-dea-texas-marijuana-gummies/?_bhlid=ffd26c50d0097bd54b1b44869f2c85949b47a86d
Austin friends and soccer fans! Mark your calendar for Monday September 15, when we will gather for a live podcast taping with legendary Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver! Sponsorship opportunities are available now, and individual tickets will go on sale soon: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
...The Brad Stuver interview will be co-hosted by Landon Cotham of the terrific Austin FC podcast Moontower Soccer: https://www.moontowersoccer.com/
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Punchbowl News publishes details on a new congressional district map that Texas Republicans lawmakers may release as soon as today, featuring five new GOP-leaning districts in Austin, D/FW, Houston and the Rio Grande Valley: https://punchbowl.news/article/campaigns/texas-sized-gamble/
...It bets heavily on Hispanic voters in Texas, in an election not featuring Donald Trump, to resist buyers remorse and remain loyal to Republican candidates in 2026: https://punchbowl.news/article/campaigns/gop-texas-latinos/
...The Texas Legislative Progressive Caucus will hold a press conference on Democratic options this afternoon upon the adjournment of House business, as U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries plans a closed-door meeting with those same lawmakers tonight: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/2025/07/29/house-democratic-leader-hakeem-jeffries-to-visit-austin-amid-redistricting-fight/85429537007/
...The national Democratic Party is in a massive fundraising push ahead of a planned targeting of several Republican lawmakers they believe will be compromised by the new map: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/us/politics/democrats-texas-redistricting.html
...The House Majority PAC and its new Lone Star Fund have started running TV ads against those likely GOP targets in Texas: https://youtu.be/OvfgpTo2Vkk?si=sIfuvKXJMFNrhu_p
There's also a Democratic presser today being held by Dallas Senator Nathan Johnson and the Texas Senate Democratic Caucus on the status of THC regulation: https://www.facebook.com/NathanforTexas/photos/media-advisory-join-me-for-a-press-conference-on-cannabis-legislation-with-membe/1194566255807967/?_rdr
Austin friends and soccer fans! Mark your calendar for Monday September 15, when we will gather for a live podcast taping with legendary Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver! Sponsorship opportunities are available now, and individual tickets will go on sale soon: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
...The Brad Stuver interview will be co-hosted by Landon Cotham of the terrific Austin FC podcast Moontower Soccer: https://www.moontowersoccer.com/
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
UT Arlington saw yet another huge public turnout in opposition to the Trump-ordered Texas redistricting scheme yesterday, the crowd exceeding the accommodation limits of the event: https://www.keranews.org/government/2025-07-28/texas-redistricting-ut-arlington-hearing
...Democrats have begun making financial preparations for the potential daily per-member fines of $500 that may be a factor in a quorum break: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/29/texas-democrats-quorum-break-fundraising-fines-redistricting/
Austin Congressman Greg Casar went on a fact-finding mission to a San Antonio immigration court, where he found the treatment of immigrants showing up there "deeply disturbing": https://www.fox7austin.com/news/greg-casar-speaks-out-about-way-immigration-laws-being-enforced
...The Dallas Morning News confirms that ICE has been improperly detaining dozens of people in an office building in Dallas: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/immigration/2025/07/29/ice-held-migrants-at-dallas-office-for-days-families-say-exceeding-agency-standards/
...A Houston man was improperly detained for two hours recently by ICE - he shares a name and resembles an immigrant they were looking for, but was born in College Station: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/us-citizen-ice-detained-houston/285-11f4cb64-fa4a-4a65-8d5b-518413664987
Austin friends and soccer fans! Mark your calendar for Monday September 15, when we will gather for a live podcast taping with legendary Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver! Sponsorship opportunities are available now, and individual tickets will go on sale soon: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025
...The Brad Stuver interview will be co-hosted by Landon Cotham of the terrific Austin FC podcast Moontower Soccer: https://www.moontowersoccer.com/
Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive
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For this next update from the special legislative session, we go to one of our favorite go-to voices and fighters in the upper chamber - State Senator Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio, who has just announced a re-election bid for the seat he's held since he displaced Republican Senator Pete Flores in 2020. Senator Gutierrez has been vocal in his opposition to the Trump-demanded carving up of Texas in a desperate bid to keep the U.S. House under GOP control, and his condemnation of cruel and un-American ICE activity in his district and elsewhere in Texas - we talk about those topics and more in this update.
Learn more about Senator Roland Gutierrez at https://rolandfortexas.com/.
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
College Democrats across the state are calling for a quorum break to stop the GOP redistricting scheme: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AGqBhU9AT/
...Texas House Dems staged a "quorum break jump scare" on Friday, heading out for a short visit to California to discuss reciprocal redistricting with Governor Gavin Newsom: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/newsom-california-texas-trump-redistricting-20788484.php
...Another delegation headed for Springfield, Illinois to have a similar conversation with Governor J.B. Pritzker: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/25/us/politics/texas-democrats-redistricting.html
...The University of Houston saw an anti-redistricting rally prior to another public hearing held by the Texas House Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting on Saturday, resulting in similar vitriol to Thursday's hearing in Austin: https://www.khou.com/article/news/politics/houston-congressional-district-meeting/285-65cbbc1a-0ad4-4468-8cda-97f259457bf5
...Almost all of the Democratic candidates to fill the long-vacant U.S. House seat for CD-18 were present and spoke: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/2025/07/27/527261/candidates-for-texas-18th-congressional-district-speak-against-redistricting/
...Dallas Rep. Julie Johnson talked redistricting this weekend on MSNBC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9k3NQH6GdU
Friday also saw a bombshell allegation by an exotic dancer who claims to have had a 17-year affair with Southlake Republican State Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, who last week announced a surprise reversal on his recently-announced re-election bid: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/gop-texas-rep-capriglione-drops-re-election-bid-after-reported-affair-allegations-he-funded-abortions-38066215
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As, promised, here's our full capture of Friday night's rally at the Delco Center in northeast Austin, hosted by Powered By People, and featuring in order:
01:06 - Travis County Democratic Party Chair Doug Greco
04:39 - Austin State Representative Gina Hinojosa
16:06 - Round Rock State Representative James Talarico
29:39 - Austin Congressman Greg Casar
37:10 - Dallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett
47:30 - San Antonio Congressman Joaquin Castro
1:02:06 - Former Congressman Beto O'Rourke
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This week's kvetch is a rare LIVE kvetch, as the team warmed up to capture Powered By People's rally on Friday night at Austin ISD's Delco Center. As we awaited a who's who of Texas progressive politics: Beto O'Rourke, Joaquin Castro, Jasmine Crockett, James Talarico, Greg Casar, Gina Hinojosa and new Travis County Democratic Party Chair Doug Greco, we covered the events of a week that were pretty insane, but that term has become very much relative these days in Texas. Our full capture of the event will follow this pod in the Progress Texas Podcasts feed. Thanks to Chris and all at Powered By People for the hospitality!
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
At the conclusion of last night's contentious hearing on Texas Republicans' push to redraw our congressional maps - at the behest of Donald Trump and with no actual maps to show - Isaiah Martin, one of the Democratic candidates for Houston's District 18, was taken to the floor twice by Capitol security and arrested by DPS on multiple misdemeanor charges: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/tempers-flare-at-texas-redistricting-hearing-as-critics-slam-mid-cycle-map-effort
...Several prominent Democrats were present to testify against the redistricting scheme, noting that no Republicans showed up to defend it: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/us/politics/texas-redistricting.html
...Texas NAACP president Gary Bledsoe and LULAC Texas State Director Gabriel Rosales both testified at the first of seven planned public hearings: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/24/texas-redistricting-hearing-house-legislature-congress/
...Republicans called the meeting at 8:30, but Democrats continued listening to testimony from concerned Texans, some of whom had driven hours to be heard: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/public-hearing-coming-to-arlington-on-mid-decade-congressional-redistricting-in-texas/287-86144250-a764-42e4-b7b8-e6cbf9757206
Attorney General Ken Paxton and his soon-to-be ex-wife, State Senator Angela Paxton, are suspected of mortgage fraud as three of the homes they own are listed as their primary residence on mortgage documents: https://apnews.com/article/paxton-mortgages-trump-primary-residence-homestead-deduction-bd259b6bd122afcaf4f11eac5a3a152e
North Texas has seen a massive uptick in ICE arrests of suspected undocumented people with no criminal history: https://www.axios.com/local/dallas/2025/07/23/dallas-ice-arrests-noncriminals
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There's probably no elected Democrat in all of Texas who has been a more frequent target of right wing smear attacks than José Garza, currently in his second term as Travis Country District Attorney. He's also a great example of how, when one becomes such a lightning rod for MAGA, one is probably doing excellent work - Travis County and Austin are the safest they've been in years, and it's largely due to Garza's work - and the voters of the Austin area are largely very happy customers.
Learn more about the Travis County District Attorney's Office at https://districtattorney.traviscountytx.gov/.
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
When they return from summer recess on August 18, lawmakers in California will immediately faced with tough decisions on how to respond to Texas redistricting: https://www.kcra.com/article/texas-redistricting-hearings-newsom-decides-california/65493018
After getting first to Trump's priorities, Texas Republicans finally got around to lesser concerns for them - Texas flood relief - but started with a four-hour "attaboy" session that drew the ire of Democratic Rep. Ann Johnson: https://www.eenews.net/articles/attaboys-dominate-texas-flood-hearing-as-lawmakers-shy-from-assigning-blame/
...Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd testified that his department struggles to contact local emergency managers, who themselves have almost no minumum requirements for training or certification: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/organizational-failures-highlighted-hearing-deadly-central-texas-flooding/
...Bipartisan blasting of Kerr County officials, who have opted to lower their local property taxes instead of addressing urgent needs to overhaul river flood warning systems: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/2025/07/23/texas-lawmakers-blast-river-authority-for-pathetic-decision-not-to-upgrade-flood-warning-system/85350653007/
One flood won't fix Texas' drought - while AI data centers are sucking up more and more and more water: https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2025-07-25/texas-is-still-in-drought-and-ai-data-centers-are-quietly-guzzling-up-water/
The Trump administration has earmarked over $1 billion for a massive detention center for ICE detainees (for now) in El Paso: https://www.chron.com/news/article/trump-awards-1-2-billion-contract-operate-texas-20782668.php
Senator Ted Cruz, with help from Senator John Cornyn, has filed a bill to target people or groups suspected of funding "antisemitic, pro-illegal" protests with RICO charges: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/ted-cruz-ice-palestine-protests-20782531.php
A Vermont school superintendent was detained and aggresively questioned by customs and immigration agents on Monday at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport in an incident that his board back home calls "deeply disturbing": https://www.advocate.com/news/vermont-gay-citizen-detained-cbp
A growing number of conservative influencers are expressing regret having followed Joe Rogan to Texas and heading back west - toodle-oo, y'all: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-14930373/conservative-stars-regret-california-texas-austin-rogan.html
Tejano titan Bobby Pulido is said to be considering a pivot into politics, specifically in his native Edinburg to challenge GOP Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/24/bobby-pulido-exploratory-committee-congress-south-texas/
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State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer of San Antonio was one of the primary captains of the 2021 Texas Democratic quorum break, staged in resistance against Republican attacks on voting access. Now, as the Texas Legislature considers mid-decade redistricting, he may soon be experiencing deja vu. We talk with Rep. Martinez Fischer about the Trump-directed assault on decades of civil rights advances, what the Dems can do about it, and what the stakes really are.
Our friend Pooja Sethi provides information on Thursday's opportunity to testify:
Thursday, July 24
2:00 PM
Room E1.030, Texas Capitol
Whether you speak or simply show up, your presence matters.
Sign up to testify or learn more:
https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/schedules/html/C0552025072414001.htm
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
As the Trump-ordered redistricting push continues with the special session, Democrats are weighing options - the primary of which is to break quorum: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas-take/article/texas-democrats-ready-anything-block-redistricting-20779102.php
...What's the Bible say about undermining democracy via redistricting and gerrymandering? https://drawthelinespa.org/citizen-stories/why-i-see-gerrymandering-as-a-sin-that-people-of-faith-should-oppose
...National Democrats are working on a redistricting tit-for-tat in blue states: https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/20/politics/redistricting-2026-house-democrats
Governor Greg Abbott, who ostensibly called this special session to settle on a more reasonable regulatory solution on THC products, now more or less supports Dan's Ban - which he vetoed: https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/abbott-thc-hemp-ban-20780523.php
...During Senate hearings yesterday, law enforcement representatives testified that they don't have the capacity to implement regulation of THC products: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/22/texas-thc-senate-ban-abbott-hemp/?_bhlid=8f4e220171d1f484a694b36cad07bca9963c6d37
With all of that, Governor Abbott is hoping you'll forget that he's hiding months of emails between himself and Elon Musk from the press: https://www.expressnews.com/opinion/editorial/article/greg-abbott-elon-musk-emails-release-20778622.php
Ozzy Osbourne, who died yesterday at 76, had an interesting history with Texas, specifically the Alamo: https://www.tpr.org/history/2025-07-22/ozzy-osbourne-dead-at-76-remains-a-part-of-san-antonio-history
...Interesting that Alamo management posted one of the kindest tributes to Ozzy we saw yesterday: https://x.com/OfficialAlamo/status/1947729022122684862?t=k8-BPfeoTVQT_oXen2ISGw&s=03
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State Senator Molly Cook returned to work as an emergency nurse in her hometown of Houston at the conclusion of her freshman session a few weeks ago - only to be dragged back to the Capitol for a special session that, turns out, is a lot more about Governor Abbott doing the bidding of Donald Trump than helping Hill Country flood victims, or even addressing Dan Patrick's stupid THC ban. Senator Cook joined us for the first of a series of updates from Democratic lawmakers as the special session continues.
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Day 1 of the special session saw a full court press on redistricting - no movement on flood relief, or any other issue: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/21/us/politics/texas-redistricting-floods.html
...Rigging maps to win elections is tantamount to totalitarianism - "democracy thrives or dies on how we draw political districts": https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/texas-redistricting-republican-democracy-20778376.php
...U.S. Reps Henry Cuellar, Vicente Gonzalez, Lizzie Fletcher and Julie Johnson are the likely Democratic targets: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/article/texas-redistricting-districts-trump-20778386.php
...Any proposed maps you've seen floating around, at present are probably fake: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/texas-redistricting-map-congress-20778346.php
...Until he got a call from Trump, Governor Abbott was not enthused about pursuing redistricting: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/22/texas-redistricting-abbott-republicans-resistant-trump/
...And history shows that the Texas Republican majority has never given much of a damn about keeping Texans safe from floods, so the hostage maneuver is predictable: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/21/texas-hill-country-flooding-inaction-state-legislature/
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The scene on the opening day off what could be a contentious and historic special legislation: a massive menu of MAGA red meat, with only 30 days for Republicans to grind it out: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/21/texas-legislature-special-session-floods-redistricting-thc/
...Of course, if they don't make that deadline, Governor Abbott can just call another special session - and another, and another: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/07/21/what-to-expect-as-texas-lawmakers-return-to-austin-for-special-session/
...Austin Congressman Greg Casar calls the Texas redistricting scheme "the biggest thing in politics you haven't heard about": https://www.msnbc.com/weekends-with-alex-witt/watch/the-biggest-thing-in-politics-you-haven-t-heard-about-dem-rep-talks-texas-redistricting-243531845601
...Former Congressman Beto O'Rourke declares that Democrats must stop being "more concerned with being right than being in power": https://www.notus.org/democrats/democrats-redistricting-trump-texas-california-new-york
...Houston Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher, State Rep. Jon Rosenthal and Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis will hold a town hall tonight (Monday 7/21) on the redistricting situation, starting at 7pm: https://cw39.com/news/local/today-lizzie-fletcher-hosts-texas-redistricting-virtual-town-hall-meeting/
The estimate of people still missing in the July 4 flood disaster dropped from 97 to 3 on Saturday, with no change in the death toll - here's why: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/20/us/texas-floods-missing.html
Donald Trump's Big Bullshit Bill is set to wreak havoc on Texas healthcare and hospitals: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/health/article/texas-medicaid-cuts-big-beautiful-bill-20774741.php
Austin State Rep. James Talarico's talk on the Joe Rogan Experience led that podcaster to ask Talarico to run for President: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jOGPvMftb8
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As we hit another Friday in the wild wild West of Texas politics, we do so with a wary eye towards Monday - the day that a special legislative session called by Governor Greg Abbott begins. A session originally to handle Dan's Ban, then to address the obvious need for flood emergency apparatus in our river basins, then to a giant pile of MAGA red meat - including a Donald Trump-ordered carving of Texas' congressional map in an attempt to deliver Trump five more Republican seats in the U.S. House, ahead of what every GOP member knows is otherwise gonna be a massive shellacking. What will - what CAN - the Democrats do about it? We discuss.
This week has also seen a grab at the control of the American news message, in the form of a wholesale defunding of public media - an essential ecosphere we at Progress Texas consider ourselves part of. In response we have launched our Summer Vacation Membership Drive, because you see, at any given time, Progress Texas stands about three months away from running out of funds. If only 10 percent of our audience signs up for at least $10 per month, that problem largely goes away - we could use your help. If you want PT to be part of the remainder of a 2025 that could see endless, contentious special sessions, and a 2026 that will see the leadup to a truly existential mid-term election for American democracy, please consider joining our fight at https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-drive.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Will the special session, partly dedicated to a Trump-ordered mid-decade redistricting start on Monday, or will Democrats walk out? The history of Democratic quorum breaks in Texas is interesting, including in the summer of 2021: https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07/14/texas-democrats-walkout-quorum/#:~:text=On%20July%2012%2C%20Texas%20House,pair%20of%20federal%20voting%20bills.
...Twice in 2003: https://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/bud-kennedy/article251796163.html
...And the "Killer Bees" walkout of 1979: https://doggett.house.gov/media/in-the-news/dallas-morning-news-killer-bees-offer-strategic-roadmap-texas-democrats-latest
...A Florida judge has upheld that state's racially-gerrymandered Congressional map, an example of what Texas Democrats are up against: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/florida-supreme-court-upholds-congressional-map-that-eliminates-a-majority-black-district
...A Florida voting rights activist calls that decision "a direct attack on Black political power and a decision that will have ripple effects for generations": https://www.wlrn.org/government-politics/2025-07-17/florida-supreme-court-upholds-desantis-backed-congressional-redistricting-plan
...Meanwhile across the country in California, Governor Gavin Newsom has two options to pursue a retaliatory redistricting move - neither of which is easy: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/us/california-texas-redistricting-newsom.html
...Houston State Rep. Ron Reynolds issues a statement declaring his readiness to break quorum: https://t.co/LZVPAlXUjr
With two well-known Democrats declaring runs, the race for Attorney General is already interesting: https://www.lonestarleft.com/p/this-race-could-turn-the-attorney
Almost none of the homes damaged in the July 4 flood in Kerr County are covered with flood insurance: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/kerr-county-flood-insurance-20761656.php
The case against a Venezuelan man arrested in Texas, accused of being a gang member and deported to the CECOT death prison in El Salvador - where he remains now - has been thrown out: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/17/texas-migrant-el-salvador-tren-de-aragua-deportation-dismissed/
Progress Texas Board Chair Louis A Bedford IV decries the trend of masked, unidentified ICE officers snatching civilians off of American streets: https://progresstexas.org/blog/if-ice-agents-can-hide-their-faces-who%E2%80%99s-protecting-public
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Desperate measures may be called for to opposed mid-decade GOP redistricting, but breaking quorum now comes with stiff financial penalties: https://woai.iheart.com/featured/san-antonios-first-news/content/2025-07-16-will-texas-democrats-attempt-to-break-quorum-during-the-special-session/
...Supreme Court Justice John Roberts is a central figure who has enabled the chaos that Trumps is now bringing to Texas: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/07/blame-john-roberts-for-enabling-trumps-massive-power-grab-in-texas/
...California Governor Gavin Newsom appears ready for extreme measures to counteract Texas redistricting: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/16/newsom-jolts-california-house-maps-texas-00458927
...All of this while everyday Texans are suffering under Trump's policies - we're now the #1 state in the country for financial distress: https://dallas.culturemap.com/news/innovation/texas-ranks-as-no-1-state-with-the-most-people-in-financial-distress/
...Rural Texas, full of Trump voters, is set to lose a long list of rural hospitals under Trump's budget cuts: https://www.amarillo.com/story/news/2025/07/09/15-texas-rural-hospitals-are-at-risk-of-closing-medicaid-cuts-big-beautiful-bill/84518400007/
...Mental health services in Texas schools are on the chopping block too, despite mental health being blamed by Republicans for our epidemic of school shootings: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/14/texas-schools-budget-cuts-mental-health/
...On the Uvalde shooting, an appeals court judge has sided with news organizations who have been trying to compel Uvalde County to release related records: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/16/uvalde-school-shootings-records-release/
Huge amounts of money are flowing into Republican races, and that's for the primary: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/16/texas-attorney-general-comptroller-campaign-finance-fundraising/
Former Galveston mayor and Houston-area lawyer and radio host Joe Jaworski has become the second Democrat to announce a run for Attorney General: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/17/joe-jaworski-texas-attorney-general-democrat/
...While Harlingen emergency physician Ada Cuellar has announced a run to challenge incumbent GOP Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz in the 15th Congressional District: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/17/ada-cuellar-democrat-monica-de-la-cruz-south-texas-congress/
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Former Galveston mayor, Houston-area attorney and longtime progressive activist Joe Jaworski joins us to announce his run for Texas Attorney General in 2026!
Learn more about Joe's campaign at https://www.jaworskifortexas.com/.
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Drama building for the special session, as Democrats consider breaking quorum to block a Trump-ordered redistricting scheme - including : https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/us/politics/texas-redistricting-trump.html
...Ken Paxton is threatening to "hunt down" any Democrats fleeing the session, while the plan itself could result in a "dummymander": https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/15/texas-democrats-redistricting-response-trump-republican-five-seats/?_bhlid=f8b2bec379355a332431cf659f421e931ee30532
...A closer look at a potential "dummymander" shows that as it stands, safe blue districts are safer than safe red districts in Texas, making a weakening of those red districts a hazardous prospect: https://prospect.org/politics/2025-07-16-texas-redistricting-maneuver-may-harm-republicans/
...The only real swing seats left in Texas are in the Rio Grande Valley, due to a surprising swing to Trump last year - no surprise, the cancellation of the RGV's biggest annual public health event due to Trump budget cuts: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/16/texas-rio-grande-valley-border-health-federal-cuts/
...Ahead of all of this, Ken Paxton has launched an investigation into alleged non-citizen voting in Harris and several other counties: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/voting/2025/07/15/526434/texas-attorney-generals-office-opens-investigation-into-allegations-of-noncitizens-voting-in-harris-county/
Propublica finds great disparity between claims by Kerr County officials that the July 4 flood couldn't have been predicted, and long oral and written histories that more or less do exactly that: https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-floods-oral-histories
...Polling shows that most Americans believe that the death toll from the flood could have been much less severe if government officials had been better prepared: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5403144-poll-flood-deaths-texas/
Republican Kerr County officials, under scrutiny due to the flood, are experiencing an unfortunate work hazard that's become familiar to Democratic leaders in bigger cities - death threats: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/texas-officials-death-threats-flash-flooding_n_68766208e4b0eefef0c4f62c
...Those same officials, at their first meeting after the flood, acknowledge that the actual number of missing people remains uncertain: https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2025/07/14/death-threats-and-uncertainty-over-total-number-of-victims-key-takeaways-from-kerr-county-commissioners-court/
The family that owns Camp Mystic admits that the supervising owner Dick Eastland, who himself perished in the flood, didn't start evacuating kids from near the river until 46 minutes after receiving an emergency flood alert: https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/camp-mystic-evacuation-delayed-despite-warning-20770025.php
...Those phone alerts, due to their frequency, similarity between situations, and typical long distance from the emergency itself, have become too easy for Texans to ignore or even turn off: https://www.keranews.org/texas-news/2025-07-15/texas-flood-alert-warning-phone
Several campaign announcements today, including Dallas State Senator Nathan Johnson, who becomes the first Democrat to announce a run for Attorney General: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/nathan-johnson-texas-attorney-general-20766914.php
...Democrat Marquette Greene-Scott announces a repeat run against MAGA clown Troy Nehls in the 22nd Congressional District: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/2025/07/14/526241/marquette-greene-scott-who-challenged-rep-troy-nehls-in-2024-announces-bid-for-congressional-district-22/
...And ultra-MAGA Conroe State Rep. Steve Toth issues a primary challenge against GOP incumbent Congressman Dan Crenshaw in Congressional District 2: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/15/steve-toth-dan-crenshaw-texas-republican-primary-congress/
Progressives across Texas are taking note of the recent return of former Tarrant County Democratic Party Chair Allison Campolo to that important post. As the political tides turn across the nation, a flip in Tarrant County would likely be a harbinger of even more widespread and long-overdue change across the Lone Star State, so having an experienced progressive fighter (and actual Kung Fu champion) in this key position is welcome news indeed. Progress Texas board member and longtime Fort Worth politico Jason Smith joins us for a fun and important discussion.
Learn more about Allison Campolo and the Tarrant County Democratic Party at https://tarrantdemocrats.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Flood recovery efforts have resumed amidst great uncertainty about how long it will take, or whether it's possible, to recover the rest of the estimated 100 who remain missing: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/14/texas-flood-missing-update/
Food banks in Austin, San Antonio and elsewhere, at a moment when their services will be in high demand due to the floods, have already been hobbled by Trump funding cuts - and that's before the cuts in the Big Bullshit Bill kick in: https://grist.org/food-and-agriculture/texas-food-banks-flood-survivors-trump-funding-cuts/
U.S. Senate Democrats are calling for a probe into whether or not Homeland Security Kristi Noem's cost-cutting measures caused a delay in FEMA response that may have needlessly cost lives: https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/07/14/congress/kristi-noem-fema-cost-control-investigation-00452212
Rumors that cloud seeding may have contributed to the intensity of the July 4 storm in the Texas Hill Country are false - just as they have been when arising after recent hurricanes: https://www.kut.org/energy-environment/2025-07-15/cloud-seeding-weather-manipulation-technology-kerr-county-texas-floods-misinformation-conspiracy-theory
A moving tribute to the counselors at Camp Mystic who bravely protected their campers, written by one of their colleagues: https://www.chron.com/news/article/camp-mystic-tribute-texas-flood-20768074.php
As lawmakers begin filing bills for the special session starting Monday, there's nothing so far relating to flood recovery or preparedness: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/no-flood-related-bills-on-first-day-of-texas-special-session-filing/
Can California Governor Gavin Newsom counteract GOP-leaning redistricting in Texas by similarly stacking his state for the Democrats? Probably not: https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/california-texas-redistricting-20769678.php
When Will Democrats Get Mad? Perhaps the better question is: when will Democrats get out of their own way and do something? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2btHwfv4Go4
Governor Abbott's refusal to release emails between himself and Elon Musk because they are "too intimate and embarrassing" sure has us curious: https://fortune.com/2025/07/15/texas-governor-greg-abbott-elon-musk-emails/
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The July 4 flood death toll rose to 132 as new flooding stopped recovery efforts on Sunday: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/texas-flooding-map-lampasas-river-trump-fema-death-toll-latest-b2788441.html
Families of victims who are still missing are beginning to come to terms that Governor Abbott's pledge to recover all of them may be impossible to fulfill: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/texas-families-face-grim-reality-that-some-missing-from-floods-may-not-be-found
Governor Abbott's highly flawed football metaphor, meant to deflect accountability in the name of toughness, draws the condemnation of Hall Of Famer Earl Campbell: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/14/us/politics/texas-floods-greg-abbott-stoicism.html
The failure of Texas to be prepared for the July 4 flood is part of a much longer pattern of neglect under Republican rule, which includes Winter Storm Uri, the Uvalde school massacre, and much more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/13/texas-disaster-weather-preparations-us
West Texas Republican Congressman Tony Gonzalez calls for accountability for the flood disaster in the upcoming special session, which seems to us a pipe dream at best: https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/13/politics/video/texas-congressman-calls-on-accountability-for-floods-cannot-allow-girls-to-drown
House Minority Leader Gene Wu notes the many bills offered by Democrats in the recent regular session aimed at improving safety infrastructure and planning that were killed by Republicans out of partisan spite: https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/11/us/video/the-lead-texas-governor-abott-donald-trump-floods-fema-jake-tapper
Other Houston Democrats are also up in arms about the Trump-demanded redistricting plan, while experts note the risk of over-reach that could undermine formerly-safe GOP Representatives: https://www.khou.com/article/news/politics/democrats-gov-abbott-redrawing-districts-special-session-texas/285-3427ffde-df9d-4a12-b8d7-c492cd41d7a4
The hypocrisy of undertaking redistricting under DOJ accusations of racial gerrymandering, just as the state has been defending its current map as race-blind, is stunning: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/11/texas-redistricting-racial-gerrymandering-coalition-districts-trump/
The new Superman movie is being derided as "woke" by right-wing media, when the character's main mode is kindness - if kindness is wokeness, then we're woke, y'all: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/superman-woke-james-gunn-credit-fox-news-rcna218375
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In this episode of the Progress Texas Happy Hour, we’re honored to welcome Michael Wilmore-Crumrine, President of the Lesbian & Gay Peace Officers Association – Austin (LGPOA-Austin). Under Michael’s leadership, LGPOA-Austin is preparing to host the 2025 World LGBTQI+ Conference for Criminal Justice Professionals — marking the first time this international gathering will take place in the United States. This historic event will bring together officers, activists, and public safety professionals from around the world to push for building more inclusive and equitable justice systems.We talk about what it means to lead with authenticity, the mission behind LGPOA, and why this conference is such a powerful moment — not just for Austin, but for LGBTQ+ visibility everywhere. It’s a conversation about service, community, and creating space where all people can be seen, heard, and respected.To learn more about LGPOA-Austin, visit: https://www.lgpoa-austin.com/
And, check out the 2025 Proud to Be Your Friend Conference at https://www.proudtobeyourfriend.org.
Thanks for listening! You can learn more about Progress Texas and support our ongoing work athttps://progresstexas.org.
This week's blowing off of the collective steam is especially cathartic, having come at the end of a week in which we watched the horrible situation in Central Texas get worse, and worse...and worse. State Senator Angela Paxton dumps her cheating husband at long last, Colin Allred appears to be playing the same old playbook, and yet another massive tragedy strikes Texas, complete with the loss of dozens of kids. We can't even.
Thanks for listening, y'all. Learn more about Progress Texas at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A full week after the fact, Donald Trump is visiting Texas today to observe the flood damage in Kerr County: https://apnews.com/article/trump-texas-floods-fema-phase-out-b77d9681d2d39f8c201351b54ecf944f
...The Kerr County Sheriff's Department took a full 90 minutes to relay a flood warning called in by a firefighter in Ingram as the floodwaters were rising: https://abcnews.go.com/US/kerr-county-officials-waited-90-minutes-send-emergency/story?id=123631023
...Instead of installing the outdoor flood warning system discussed for years but put off for lack of funding, Kerr County spent an over $10 million ARPA windfall in 2021 on other stuff: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/10/texas-kerr-county-commissioners-flooding-warning/
...One might think that Chip Roy, Kerr County's U.S. Congressman, might send down federal dollars earmarked for flood safety infrastructure - until one is reminded that Chip Roy is the biggest tightwad in Washington: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/you-need-fewer-bureaucrats-chip-roy-uses-tx-flood-as-excuse-to-cut-government/ar-AA1I3X5x
Governor Abbott's hopes that the flood might shield his cynical redistricting power grab from public outcry and opposition might be overly optimistic: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/10/greg-abbott-midterms-republicans
...One political academic predicts that as things currently stand, the Republicans could suffer "a complete sweep" in 2026: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/10/texas-republican-redistricting-maps
Texas State Senator Angela Paxton, after for years suffering the public shame of her husband's infidelity and the impeachment that followed, has filed for divorce from Attorney General Ken Paxton: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/10/angela-paxton-divorce-texas-attorney-general-ken/
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Difficult conversations should take place in all regions of a diverse state like Texas, especially after 30-plus years of one party rule. Beyond placing blame on rural regions or certain sects of historically Democratic voters, we should first take a deep look inwards and be ready to listen to those different from ourselves.
Last month, over a hundred Democratic county party chairs, rural organizers, and freshly announced candidates held a conference in Bastrop, Texas. The 134 PAC invited both Progress Texas Podcasting Director Chris Mosser and Advocacy Manager and former small-town City Councilor Reagan Stone to take part - an honor and lots of fun. For the closing panel of the event, Reagan joined San Angelo attorney and Co-Founder of the 134 PAC Jon Mark Hogg, and seasoned rural political consultant and proud Missouri farmer Will Westmoreland to start the hunt for answering questions on turning Texas blue. Moderated by University of Houston at Victoria Political Science Professor Woodrow Wilson Wagner, this episode is an off-prompt attempt at defining why our conservative neighbors don’t always vote for what may serve their best interests, and how progressive Texans might go about starting difficult, but very important, conversational exchanges with their more conservative counterparts.
Learn more about the 134 PAC at https://www.the134pac.org/.
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The death toll of the July 4 flood disaster has risen to 120, but is still exceeded by the number of missing, which remains over 150: https://www.cnn.com/weather/live-news/texas-flooding-camp-mystic-07-10-25
...New policies imposed upon FEMA by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem appear to have created a 72-hour delay in the agency's response to the flood: https://www.irishstar.com/news/us-news/kristi-noem-texas-floods-response-35531843
...Even when it came, the FEMA deployment was an anemic 100 staffers, dwarfed by the almost 2,000 the state sent: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/trump-fema-response-texas-floods-b2785617.html
...Not that the state response was very effective - Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring says he didn't even know about advance deployment of response resources: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/09/texas-hill-country-floods-kerrville/
...A paltry $73,000 for a flood condition dashboard didn't even get done in time - it's set to be discussed in mid-July: https://abcnews.go.com/US/texas-flood-kickoff-meeting-kerr-county-warning-system/story?id=123622025
Setting a new standard for cynicism, Governor Abbott will use the tragic flood as political cover for a redistricting power grab in the upcoming special session, as ordered by Donald Trump: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/09/abbott-special-session-texas-redistricting-flooding-thc-abortion-pills/
...The map redraw will target four urban, non-white majority districts in Houston and Fort Worth - and the session will also attempt to ram through a wide variety of unfinished right-wing goals: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/2025/07/09/526083/congressional-redistricting-including-in-houston-on-texas-governors-agenda-for-special-legislative-session/
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The number of missing people in the July 4 floods has jumped dramatically, from about 40 yesterday to 173: https://abcnews.go.com/US/live-updates/texas-flooding-updates-13-dead-20-campers-unaccounted/?id=123488468
...A team of firefighters and responders from Mexico have traveled north to join the search and recovery effort: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/08/mexico-firefighters-texas-flooding-search-rescue
...A San Antonio news anchor blasts Governor Greg Abbott and Homeland Security Kristi Noem for spending the first 27 minutes of a press conference on Saturday, when families remained hopeful for survivors, praising each other and Donald Trump: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/stephania-jimenez-kristi-noem-gregg-abbott-flood-press-conference_n_686bb8e6e4b0762f74e180fb
...The Trumpies have changed their tune somewhat on FEMA, who are now engaged in the recovery effort - just days after planning publicly to dismantle that agency: https://apnews.com/article/fema-disaster-texas-flooding-trump-emergency-2d05ccbd82e0b8e4d33979cbd71efb73
...Still unclarified, what local Kerr County officials did or didn't do in the over three hours between the first flood warning and the arrival of the wave: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/08/texas-weather-service-warning-kerr-county/
...No Kerr County officials weighed in on an online message board conference about the threat of heavy rain given by the National Weather Service on Thursday July 3: https://x.com/BudKennedy/status/1942704509504962749/photo/1
...Just two days prior to the flood, the Texas Department of State Health Services greenlit the emergency plans of Camp Mystic, where 27 died, mostly children: https://www.yahoo.com/news/texas-inspectors-approved-camp-mystic-235051076.html?guccounter=1
...Ted Cruz steps in it again, taking two days to return from Greece amidst the disaster, after his office insisted his return was "as fast as humanly possible": https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/ted-cruz-toured-the-parthenon-before-heading-home-to-texas-disaster-report
A great many Texans regularly visit and own property in and around Ruidoso, New Mexico, where they've seen flooding this week reminiscent of the Guadalupe: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5392092-new-mexico-severe-flooding-claims-lives/
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Day five of the recovery effort in Kerr County begins as the July 4 floods become the deadliest rain-related flood in the U.S. in almost 50 years: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/texas-flooding-camp-mystic-map-death-toll-victims-latest-news-b2784433.html
Local officials in Kerrville have continued to deflect questions about their response to the flood: https://apnews.com/article/texas-floods-kerr-county-warnings-31c4e493e9f1b6d0406df310e74d3f98
...Records show an effort by Kerr County commissioners to keep an antiquated word-of-mouth system in place for river flooding events, while expressing reluctance to accept grants from the Obama administration for infrastructure improvements: https://abcnews.go.com/US/former-texas-county-officials-thought-informal-phone-calls/story?id=123552333
...Some of those officials are likely more fond of Donald Trump, whose cuts to the National Weather Service may have adversely affected the forecast, and has proposed eliminating FEMA, who are now working alongside volunteers in Kerr County: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/us/politics/texas-floods-trump-administration.html
...Governor Abbott has indicated that flood safety will be addressed in an upcoming special legislative session, but has not specifically said that will happen during the one already called to begin July 21: https://www.kxan.com/investigations/abbott-special-session-may-address-warnings-after-deadly-texas-floods/
...Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has gone a bit further, promising that the state will install a flood siren system in the Guadalupe River Valley by next summer: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/state/texas-news/texas-flood/lt-gov-dan-patrick-state-will-pay-put-sirens-along-guadalupe-river-before-next-summer/287-2d253a6e-2c1d-40b4-9a04-4f1198314b9f
...Other towns with rivers to manage nearby do have flood sirens installed, including nearby Comfort: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/deadly-texas-floods-one-town-warning-siren-rcna217202
...Kerrville Pets Alive expect to have dozens of cats and dogs, displaced from their homes in the storm, up for adoption in coming weeks: https://kerrvillepetsalive.com/
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The latest on the July 4th floods in Kerr County and across Central Texas, where the death toll has surpassed 80 and over 40 remain missing: https://abcnews.go.com/US/live-updates/texas-flooding-updates-13-dead-20-campers-unaccounted/?id=123488468
...County and state leaders immediatly attempted to shift blame to weather forecasters - did they get it wrong? https://www.npr.org/2025/07/06/nx-s1-5458512/texas-flash-flood-weather-forecast
...Those same leaders themselves acknowledge cell coverage and public flood warning infrastructure shortfalls that might have made a difference: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0rvp24wvrqo
...Kerr County has passed on building outdoor flood siren warning systems for years, finding them too expensive: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/06/us/texas-flood-warnings-sirens.html
...State Rep. Wes Virdell, one of only 14 House members to vote against HB 13, which would have established new emergency infrastructure funding had it not died in the house, says events of this weekend have made him reconsider that vote: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/06/texas-disaster-warning-emergency-communication-bill-kerrville-floods/
...The flood itself is considered by many climate experts as a prime example of the type of weather behavior we can expect to see more frequently due to human-influenced climate degradation: https://www.axios.com/2025/07/06/climate-texas-tragedy-future
...Legendary Austin meteorologist Jim Spencer responds to Facebook trolls accusing him of "politicizing the situation": https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1aoZ5DZ5ov/?mibextid=wwXIfr
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Last weekend, Progress Texas Digital Associate Haley Smith visited the welcome social for the Texas Young Democrats and Texas College Democrats Joint Convention in downtown Austin to talk with young, passionate leaders from across the state. Tune in for candid conversations, a pulse check on the grassroots movement, and inspiration from the young people leading the charge toward a more just and inclusive Texas.Thanks for listening! You can learn more about Progress Texas and support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org.
The news moves fast, y'all - between the time we recorded this on Thursday afternoon and posting time a couple of hours later, the U.S. House has passed what we've come to correctly call Donald Trump's Big Bullshit Bill - a truly historic heist of working class America for the richest in our country. As the elections of 2026 approach, it will be all-important not to let our fellow Texans who will be impacted - a great many of whom are Trump voters themselves - forget this moment. All the more important and appropriate, as we all prepare to celebrate Independence Day, to remind ourselves of what REAL patriotism is, and to spread that message as well.
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For a time that isn’t typical, we’re not bringing you the typical talking points. German Ibanez has 40 plus years of experience in clean energy. From developing green solutions for municipalities to multinational companies, we like to list him as a consultant on the good side of the revolving door. Either way you look at it, he has boundless knowledge surrounding ERCOT, energy regulation and investments, nuclear research, and federal spending.This week, we chatted about Trump's big horrid spending bill, wrongfully budgeted priorities expected to add trillions to our national debt. This bill definitely won’t help you. Your electric bill is going to keep going up, jobs will be lost, and we will further fall into the Trump Recession.Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The U.S. House appears preparing to vote on Donald Trump's Big Bullshit Bill: https://apnews.com/live/donald-trump-news-updates-7-3-2025
...As of last night, Austin Democratic Congressman Lloyd Doggett was holding out hope that the bill could be stopped: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/doggett-holding-out-hope-that-trumps-one-big-beautiful-bill-could-fail-in-house
...Austin Republican Congressman Chip Roy, seemingly holding out over the massive impact to the national debt, seems likely pliable over additional benefit cuts: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/us/politics/trump-conservatives-bill.html
...Massive impacts on Texas, especially those in rural, Republican areas, appear to be landing on deaf GOP ears: https://www.keranews.org/texas-news/2025-07-02/texas-trump-tax-big-beautiful-bill-congress-snap-medicaid
...The Texas clean energy sector, which just dodged a bullet with the end of the state legislative session, could be devastated by the bill: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/trump-budget-bill-wind-solar-ira-credits-20415094.php
Rumors are growing that recently-former San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg is planning to run for Governor: https://quorumreport.com/quorum_report_daily_buzz_2025/chatter_growing_louder_out_of_san_antonio_that_for_buzziid32725.html
...Our recent talk in San Antonio with Mayor Ron and newly-elected Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/special-live-pod-san-antonio-party-progress-mayor-ron-nirenberg-and-mayoral-candidate-gina
We should pay attention to lesser-known, upstart candidates too, including former astronaut Terry Virts of Houston, running for Senate: https://www.space.com/space-exploration/human-spaceflight/former-astronaut-terry-virts-talks-about-his-senate-run-trump-and-the-nasa-budget-in-exclusive-space-com-interview-video
...And East Texas farmer and firefighter Bobby Cole, running for Governor: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/greg-abbott-reelection-20415198.php
The upcoming special session appears likely to be characterized by growing tension between Governor Greg Abbott and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick over "Dan's Ban": https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-special-session-2025-thc-ban-greg-abbott-dan-patrick/285-982791df-6705-49fd-9d88-5ae09939b2ca
That expected lawsuit over the new law requiring the displaying of the Ten Commandments in Texas classrooms from the ACLU has arrived: https://www.kxan.com/video/aclu-files-suit-against-texas-ten-commandments-law-kxan-news-at-6-p-m/10859214/
Heading into the 4th of July weekend, Texas ranks terribly on a ranking of states based on patriotism: https://austin.culturemap.com/news/city-life/least-patriotic-states-texas-2025/
As the Progress Texas Summer Vacation series focuses on the Big Bend region, we learn that Donald Trump's undercutting of the National Park system is both politically and fiscally stupid: https://www.tpr.org/2025-06-23/as-visitors-flock-to-parks-deep-cuts-leave-rangers-and-wildlife-at-risk
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As part of our larger “Progress Texas Summer Vacation" series, we reviewed the threats to our national parks with Cristóbal López, the National Parks Conservation Association’s Texas Field Representative. Our talk ranges from exacerbated staff shortages, to how Trump’s budget bill could create the largest public lands sale in modern history - so billionaires can cut you out of “America’s best idea” and keep the views to themselves.
Learn more about this ongoing work at https://www.npca.org/articles/9320-senate-committee-abandons-national-park-staff-in-reckless-budget-proposal, and at https://www.npca.org/articles/8858-new-order-threatens-park-service-s-efforts-to-protect-and-explore-american.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Trump's Big Bullshit Bill, passed by the Senate, now heads for the House, where part of the opposition is Texas Congressman Chip Roy - whose concerns about impacts to the national debt will likely lead to even deeper cuts for vulnerable Americans: https://www.tpr.org/government-politics/2025-07-02/why-texas-rep-chip-roy-broke-with-trump-on-the-gops-mega-bill
...Rural, red, Republican Texas is about to feel the full impact of the bill as the healthcare desert they already live in gets even worse: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/budget-bill-trump-medicaid-rural-hospitals-20402463.php
Senator John Cornyn - in major trouble in polling against Ken Paxton - has lost none of his fundraising prowess as he'll have at least $12 million to fend off his primary challenger: https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/07/01/congress/john-cornyn-fundraising-texas-senate-primary-ken-paxton-00434713
Progress Texas Executive Director Kathleen Thompson weighs in on what Zohran Mamadani's success in NYC means for Texas: "young people are motivated if they’re turned on by a candidate": https://thebarbedwire.com/2025/07/01/politicians-texans-can-learn-zohran-mamdani/
...And we review that time in 2008 when Kathleen bested recently-declared Texas Senate candidate Leigh Wamsganss, who wanted Texans to ignore bad polling on then-VP candidate Sarah Palin: https://vimeo.com/27319160
Advocacy and Development Coordinator Tatum Owens has been travels in the Pacific Northwest, where she's experiencing firsthand the impact of Trump's budget cuts on our national parks: https://www.commoncause.org/fr/actes/tell-congress-stop-trumps-cuts-to-national-parks/
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texas Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, naturally, are all in for Donald Trump's deeply unpopular Big Bullshit Bill: https://apnews.com/live/donald-trump-news-updates-7-1-2025
...It will have massive effects in Texas, both for SNAP recipients and the 15% of Texans who rely on Medicaid: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/how-could-changes-to-snap-and-medicaid-in-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-impact-texas/
...Elon Musk is up in arms about the cuts to electric vehicle subsidies in the bill, and Tesla stock took a dive this morning when Trump suggested DOGE have a look at Musk's federal take: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/01/tesla-shares-tumble-after-trump-says-doge-should-look-at-elon-musks-subsidies.html
...Don't cry for Elon though - the loss of USAID is projected to result in 14 million needless deaths globally by 2030: https://www.ft.com/content/945a0301-2bf5-4e0f-bdc4-f07f82891cb1
As expected, former Dallas Congressman Colin Allred has formally launched a run for the U.S. Senate: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/01/colin-allred-texas-us-senate-democrat-2026-cornyn-paxton/
A host of Texas GOP establishment biggies are calling for Tarrant County Republican Party Chair Bo French to resign over a recent bigoted tweet - but figures in the hard right lunatic fringe are rallying in support: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/texas-republicans-tarrant-county-bo-french-social-media-poll-jews-muslims/
Progress Texas Summer Vacation! Advocacy Manager Reagan Stone paid a visit to the Alamo over the weekend: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/unesco-san-antonio-missions-nps-layoffs-20202390.php
...And Advocacy and Development Coordinator Tatum Owens has been traveling in the Pacific Northwest: https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/research-restrooms-summer-staffing-crunch-hits-national-parks-after-trump-cuts-2025-06-08/
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Donald Trump's continued press to establish an authoritarian regime, supported by his stacked Supreme Court, gives progressives all the more reason to rise and resist: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/28/us/supreme-court-trump-victories.html
...The Trump tax bill, on the verge of passing the Senate, provide even more reason for working Americans to make their opposition known: https://apnews.com/article/senate-bill-trump-tax-breaks-spending-cuts-549c2fdd47c1965007282b8461687bc9
...Seeing that opposing Trump is a fatal mistake for Senate Republicans, and living in fatal fear of a Ken Paxton primary, John Cornyn is now sucking up to the President with whom he has up till now maintained distance: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/30/john-cornyn-senate-texas-primary-republicans-trump-paxton/
...Who will the Democrats put up for Senate? Beto O'Rourke, James Talarico, Joaquin Castro and more gathered Friday night in San Antonio: https://www.tpr.org/government-politics/2025-06-29/who-will-texas-democrats-pick-to-be-their-nominee-to-run-for-u-s-senator...GOP toxicity in both D.C. and Texas are giving Dems hope for '26: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/06/30/why-democrats-are-excited-about-texas-real-this-time/
...Governor Greg Abbott and Senator Ted Cruz find themselves in an endorsement battle in the race for Texas Comptroller: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/06/30/hard-fought-2026-gop-primaries-could-reshuffle-texas-politics/
...Fort Worth State Rep. Nate Schatzline, just days after declaring a run for the Texas Senate, chickens out when a Patriot Mobile executive declares for the same seat: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article309578670.html
A capital murder charge brought against a North Texas man accused of slipping abortion-inducing drugs to his pregnant girlfriend represents a new move by anti-abortion activists to establish fetal personhood: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/30/texas-abortion-pill-capital-murder-charge-fetal-personhood/
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On this week's download of frustration and triumph and frustration, the crew celebrates the win of Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral primary - which both portends the rising power of young progressive voters, and has also unleashed an amazing outpouring of panic from not only the far right, but also, strangely enough, some from the Democratic old guard. What gives? We talk about it, and more.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can join in our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Current and former aides to Attorney General Ken Paxton are in an all-out and tawdry legal battle over alleged obstruction during Paxton's 2023 impeachment, threatening to become a sideshow for Paxton's expected run for Senate next year: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/26/ken-paxton-impeachment-witness-tampering-former-employees/?_bhlid=1ce16d89f9b2653aa078b30c686107bc7fce03c7
...Top Democrats are lining up to face Paxton next year, as Congressman Joaquin Castro, former Congressmen Colin Allred and Beto O'Rourke, and Austin State Rep. James Talarico have begun talks to discuss the plan: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/06/26/democrats-allred-castro-orourke-talarico-meet-to-discuss-2026-options/
...O'Rourke, Talarico and Castro will all speak tonight at a Powered By People event in San Antonio: https://www.mobilize.us/poweredxpeople/event/798485/
Tarrant County Republican Party chairman Bo French, once again, displays his childish bigotry online - when will Fort Worth area Republicans tire of his embarrassing antics? https://www.sacurrent.com/news/north-texas-republican-party-shares-online-poll-asking-whether-jews-or-muslims-are-bigger-threat-37841913
The Trump administration is expanding its military footprint in Texas, endangering the right of Texans to enjoy outdoor spaces near the border: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/26/texas-military-zone-expansion-illegal-immigration/
...The Posse Comitatus Act is now being significantly strained in the Texas borderlands: https://www.npr.org/2025/05/06/g-s1-63778/military-border-zone-posse-comitatus-explained
Social Security is NOT doomed to insolvency - it could be made solid if the top 6% of American earners paid in the same rate as the rest of us: https://www.forbes.com/sites/eriksherman/2025/06/24/social-security-faces-cuts-even-though-theres-a-fix-for-its-problems/
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The second time we've run Joe Jaworski's "Midterms" political talk show hosted by KPFT-FM in Houston, where it runs every Tuesday morning, features a talk with former Congressman Beto O'Rourke! It was recorded just after Beto's swing through Texas on his tour of town hall meetings - since, of course, he's joined Senator Bernie Sanders and Austin Congressman Greg Casar and more for a similar run of rallies through the state.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can get involved in our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
New bi-monthy polling in Texas finds negativity growing against Republican leadership and policies, from Donald Trump to Governor Greg Abbott and on down the line: https://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/blog/june-2025-university-of-texas-texas-politics-project-poll-economic-concerns-drag-trump-s-job-approval-underwater-in-texas-while-most-texans-oppose-ban-on-thc-products-dividing-gop-leadership
...Also deep bipartisan disapproval for Dan's Ban of THC products, vetoed by Abbott and now central to an upcoming special session: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/25/texas-poll-voters-oppose-thc-ban-sb-3/
The special session will likely cover more than Dan's Ban - a massive water-pumping project in East Texas has led to calls to reform state laws that allow almost unlimited private water access: https://www.kltv.com/2025/06/26/east-texas-lawmaker-might-ask-gov-abbott-add-water-rights-special-session/
...So far, not much has been said about tackling redistricting in the special session - this one, anyway - which is good, because it's a terrible idea: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2025/06/26/texas-shouldnt-use-special-session-to-redraw-electoral-maps/
Trump's "big beautiful bill", if passed as written, would be the end of at least 15 rural hospitals across Texas: https://www.markey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/letter_on_rural_hospitals.pdf
The Texas oil industry has thus far ignored Trump's calls to expand pumping to offset his misadventures in Iran - unlike the dictatorships Trump admires, American oil producers are more beholden to their investors than to the Dear Leader: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/article/trump-oil-production-texas-20391839.php
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Former Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger has become an influential player in Texas politics since moving his family to the Houston area after leaving the U.S. House in 2022. His vocal rejection of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement, including his active involvement in Trump's second impeachment, has brought him into natural alliance with progressives across the country. Congressman Kinzinger recently took part in a forum with several recent Democratic winners of North Texas elections, organized by the Dallas County Democratic Party and held at Northaven United Methodist Church on June 17, and this podcast contains his remarks as well as an interview conducted by Congressman Kinzinger's fellow anti-Trump Republican and military veteran Michael Wood, in which the two explore the history and current nature of the MAGA movement, and strategies on how the rest of America should go about resisting it.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how to support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The primary win of young Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamadani in the New York City mayoral election is being seen by some as a bellwether for the national Democratic party: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/nyregion/cuomo-mamdani-mayor-primary-nyc.html
...Also representing that wave, Austin Congressman Greg Casar has been sticking to economic messages over cultural issues on his recent tour with Bernie Sanders: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/25/greg-casar-midterms-2026-democrats-economic-populist-message/
...Also with the Democratic new guard is Dallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, who has once again been denied a leadership position by the Dem establishment, who tend to see her as "overzealous": https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/24/texas-jasmine-crockett-house-oversight-committee-ranking-democrat/?_bhlid=1766cdc79b48c2d325de759b7727d6aa2da63f9e
...Houston Congressman Al Green - not a young lawmaker but definitely a fiery one - has seen his move to impeach Donald Trump for his attack on Iran fail, once again at the hands of Democrats concerned about the middle: https://www.axios.com/2025/06/24/trump-impeachment-iran-democrats-al-green
East Texas rancher and firefighter Bobby Cole has launched a campaign for Governor as a Democrat, promising to support working Texans - and to legalize marijuana: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/bobby-cole-texas-governor-20391255.php
A migrant detention camp in El Paso is straining at the seams, part of a swelling number of people under ICE detention - much to the glee of the private prison industry: https://elpasomatters.org/2025/06/24/ice-detention-facility-el-paso/
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
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Today marks the beginning of a three day conference of the Texas State Board of Education in Austin. The quarterly meet ups set policies and standards for Texas public schools. That includes curriculum, adopting instructional materials, establishing graduation requirements, and managing the permanent school fund.
As the SBOE is one of our lesser known state elected bodies, we brought you District 3 State Board of Education Member, Marisa Perez-Diaz, the most senior Democrat, who represents San Antonio and South Texas, to give us an insider’s view of the most important matters on the agenda. We’re also joined by friend and ally Rocio Fierro Perez, Political Director with the Texas Freedom Network, who shares context to the ongoing fights safeguarding separations between church and state and vital funds that support our neighborhood schools.
Learn more about Marisa Perez-Diaz at https://sboe.texas.gov/state-board-of-education/sboe-board-members/sboe-member-district-3.
Learn more about Rocio Fierro Perez and Texas Freedom Network at https://tfn.org/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
In the only budget item from the 89th Legislature he vetoed, Governor Abbott has nixed Texas' participation in the federal Summer EBT program, designed to keep lower-income kids fed during summer months: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/texas-gov-greg-abbott-vetoes-summer-lunch-program-for-low-income-kids-37817843
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick is fully hysterical over Abbott's ban of Dan's Ban - he's accusing the hemp industry of connections to cartels and terrorists, and claiming that stoned people are walking in front of trains: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/lt-gov-dan-patrick-criticize-texas-gov-greg-abbott-vetoes-bill-banning-thc/
...The Texas hemp industry, having dodged a bullet, are voicing their enthusaism for additional regulation: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/23/texas-hemp-regulations-age-restriction-enforcement-thc-sb-3/
...All this drama over THC products in Texas could be for nothing, as there's potentially a federal ban in the works: https://themarijuanaherald.com/2025/06/u-s-house-committee-ban-hemp-thc/
The ACLU has filed a lawsuit challenging SB 12, signed over the weekend by Governor Abbott - it represents a further ban of DEI policies and practi ces in Texas school districts: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/the-aclu-sues-texas-to-block-new-parental-rights-law
Colin Allred, Beto O'Rourke, James Talarico and all other Democrats thinking about running for the U.S. Senate have been beaten to the announcement punch by retired astronaut Terry Virts of Houston: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/23/us/terry-virts-john-cornyn-senate-texas.html
...While Houston State Senator Joan Huffman joins a growing field of Republicans running for Attorney General: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/23/joan-huffman-texas-attorney-general-republican-primary-2026/
Correction from Monday: Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders didn't make the Amarillo "Fighting Oligarchy" tour stop in Amarillo, as he was called back to D.C. over Trump's attack on Iran - but Beto O'Rourke and Congressman Greg Casar addressed a big gathering there: https://www.newschannel10.com/2025/06/23/fighting-oligarchy-tour-stops-amarillo-sparks-dialogue-war-wealth-issues/
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Latest on Donald Trump's attack on nuclear facilities in Iran: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/22/us/politics/trump-iran-decision-strikes.html
...Responses from Texas Democratic U.S. Reps Lloyd Doggett, Greg Casar, Lizzie Fletcher, and Sylvia Garcia: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-lawmakers-leaders-trump-iran/285-32881e5e-89ce-49ef-bd91-2795e3151ad6
...Rep. Joaquin Castro: https://x.com/JoaquinCastrotx/status/1936625247827984825?t=W3viAqQkePA_BDDbdUMCzw&s=03
...Rep. Julie Johnson: https://x.com/RepJasmine/status/1936589516283978011?t=oUJBI0mTXCogRIoPwFoGmw&s=03
...Eight things to know about Trump's Iran attack, from Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy: https://www.chrismurphyct.com/p/8-things-you-should-know-about-trumps?utm_campaign=post&triedRedirect=true
Governor Abbott has vetoed SB 3, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick's THC ban: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/22/texas-thc-ban-bill-greg-abbott-veto-senate-bill-3/?_bhlid=4937622fa4afb7b6d628185df1035b9f2279d7b7
...Abbott has called a special session for a re-do on hemp regulation, and a revisiting of six other bills he vetoed: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/22/texas-governor-greg-abbott-special-session-veto-bills-thc-ban/
...Abbott signed into law SB 10, the forcing of the display of the Ten Commandments in Texas classrooms, which is certain to face aggressive legal resistance: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/06/21/gov-abbott-signs-ten-commandments-bill-mandating-displays-in-texas-classrooms/
...He also signed into law SB 11, which will allow local school boards to mandate prayer time in their districts: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/05/22/prayer-period-in-texas-public-schools-expected-to-reach-gov-abbott-for-approval/
...And Abbott signed HB 229, the "Women's Bill Of Rights" that amounts to an erasure of trans Texans into law on Friday: https://klewtv.com/news/nation-world/gov-abbott-signs-womens-bill-of-rights-which-opponents-call-an-attack-on-trans-texans
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Hard to believe that our 15th Anniversary shindig in Dallas was just under two weeks ago - so much is happening, and so quickly, that time is really flying by. Podcasting Director Chris Mosser works the room when we gather our friends together to check in on how they feel about our work at Progress Texas, and this pod presents a bunch of our favorite Texans - whom we thank with all of our hearts for their dedication to progress, and their support of our organization.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
We’re excited to be one of the first to bring to you a discussion with newly-announced Democratic candidate for Texas Agriculture Commissioner, Clayton Tucker. He’s a rancher, president of the Texas Progressive Caucus, and works as a fair trade organizer, fighting corporations that use international trade policy to rig the rules against working people and ship jobs overseas. You might already know him as one of Texas’ architects in framing policy around working families and quality services that help people like you. Of course, when referring to the most scandalous of our statewide officials—there’s no one better to shine light on and frankly dig in on, than Republican Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller. Here's Clayton's take on how he would refocus the office on the farmer, ranchers, and children it was meant to serve.
Learn more about Clayton Tucker and his campaign at https://www.claytontuckertx.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Our weekly blowing off of the proverbial steam covers the afterglow of the glorious No Kings weekend, Governor Abbott's deadline to sign legislation or get off the pot on Sunday, our worst fears about exactly WHO these masked ICE agents actually are, and more.
Have a great weekend and thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Despite the risks, opposition within his party, and terrible optics, it's looking like Governor Greg Abbott may cave to Donald Trump and call a special legislative session for a rare mid-decade redistricting session: https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/20/politics/redistricting-texas-ohio-republicans-house
Sunday marks the deadline for Governor Greg Abbott to sign bills into law. On the THC ban, will he choose personal freedom - or a nanny state in Texas? https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/greg-abbott-texas-thc-ban/
...Texas Longhorns football legend Ricky Williams calls on "my friend Greg Abbott to please veto this bill": https://www.kvue.com/article/news/politics/texas-legislature/texas-thc-ban-ricky-williams-greg-abbott/269-4cba052f-589d-4728-aae9-f1aeb7e477e5
...Even right wing media in Texas acknowledges the strong bipartisan opposition to Dan's Ban: https://thetexan.news/issues/social-issues-life-family/trump-polling-firm-finds-bipartisan-opposition-to-banning-thc-products-in-texas/article_9f5b1478-7bc7-499a-8b07-6d5bb04eea48.html
Sunday is also the deadline for Abbott to sign, or not, two bills representing a significant encroachment of Christian religious dogma into Texas public schools: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/religion/2025/06/19/524438/bills-on-religion-in-public-schools-await-gov-greg-abbotts-signature-as-sunday-deadline-looms/
The Bernie Sanders "Fighting Oligarchy" tour hits McAllen tonight and both Amarillo and Fort Worth on Sunday, where Bernie will be joined by Congressman Greg Casar and former Congressman Beto O'Rourke: https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/bernie-sanders-fighting-oligarchy-tour-texas-stops-20378303.php
...We presented the Austin stop of this same tour last October: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/special-pod-mount-rushmore-of-progressives-rally-at/id1552998795?i=1000671582577
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
This Juneteenth, we renew our commitment to the liberation of and equity for our neighbors, regardless of their race, who they love, or where they came from: https://progresstexas.org/blog/protest-pride-and-progress-where-and-how-show-summer
...We honor Texas icon Opal Lee, who was instrumental in establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/state/2025/06/19/opal-lee-grandmother-of-juneteenth-2025-fort-worth-texas-native/84252660007/
...A new documentary on Dallas' Pan African Connection Bookstore makes a great watch in celebration of Juneteenth - there's a screening in Dallas on Sunday, see the link for tickets: https://www.keranews.org/arts-culture/2025-06-19/for-juneteenth-this-new-doc-honors-the-legacy-of-dallas-pan-african-connection-bookstore
...An Arlington man has filed a lawsuit against Ace Hardware, claiming that on Juneteenth of 2023, a manager of a store where he was employed hung a noose in the business - and that he was fired when he complained about it to HR: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/arlington/article308874235.html
A massive explosion at the SpaceX launch facility last night during a test of the Starship vehicle sheds even more doubt on that rocket's reliability: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/19/spacexs-starship-explodes-during-routine-test-in-texas.html
...Texas Democratic state lawmakers have asked Tesla to delay its planned launch of robotaxi service in Austin until September, when a new state law governing autonomous vehicles will take effect: https://electrek.co/2025/06/18/tesla-asked-delay-robotaxi-launch-in-austin-texas-lawmakers/
Texas Democrats in the U.S. House weigh in on the escalating situation in the Middle East, including El Paso's Rep. Veronica Escobar: https://x.com/RepEscobar/status/1935096698805923940
...Dallas' Rep. Julie Johnson: https://x.com/juliejohnsonTX/status/1933668457838751976
...San Antonio's Rep. Joaquin Castro: https://x.com/JoaquinCastrotx/status/1935496879271252250
...Harris County's Rep. Sylvia Garcia: https://x.com/RepSylviaGarcia/status/1935448751323132089
...Austin's Rep. Greg Casar: https://x.com/RepCasar/status/1933334585376715266
...Austin's. Rep. Lloyd Doggett: https://x.com/RepLloydDoggett/status/1935176565710623107
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Tucker Carlson appears to goad Senator Ted Cruz into prematurely revealing Trump administration military cooperation with Israel against Iran: https://x.com/allenanalysis/status/1935143824340160884?s=46
Both Elon Musk and Alex Jones have posted lies online about the murderer of Minnesota State Senator Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark: https://www.wired.com/story/psyop-far-right-conspiracy-theories-minnesota-shooting/
...That murderer completed a two-year degree in Practical Theology at Christ For The Nations Institute in Dallas in 1990: https://www.chron.com/culture/religion/article/vance-boelter-texas-bible-college-alum-20381262.php
Another of those over 230 Venezualan migrants deemed to be gang members and sent to a death prison in El Salvador appears to have been railroaded with no evidence: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/18/texas-dps-venezuelan-el-salvador-tren-de-aragua-deportation/?_bhlid=087a12052bedb182c313704a8a2748627734c725
Texas officials have quietly given up on their border wall project, having built only about 8% of it at a cost of over 3 billion taxpayer dollars: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/17/texas-border-wall-funding-ends-abbott-trump/
The Travis County Commissioners Court has unanimously passed a resolution calling for the humane and just treatment of immigrants by federal forces: https://www.kxan.com/news/local/travis-county/travis-county-passes-resolution-for-constitutional-humane-treatment-of-immigrants/
Multiple James Beard Award winners from Texas tell their own immigration stories during their acceptance speeches: https://www.texasmonthly.com/food/james-beard-awards-winners-2025/
Austin FC fans became the second fanbase in MLS to unfurl a banner condemning aggressive ICE tactics at a home match on Saturday night, as manager Nico Estevez calls for a more reasonable approach: https://mlsmultiplex.com/what-austin-fc-s-nico-estevez-said-about-ice-immigration-enforcement-01jxt307aczn
The No Kings protests across the country have been confirmed as the largest in American history: https://www.thedailybeast.com/data-guru-g-elliott-morris-says-up-to-6-million-people-attended-no-kings-anti-donald-trump-protests/
Progress Texas sends our best wishes to the iconic "Grandmother Of Juneteenth" Opal Lee, who is recovering at home from a medical issue and will not take part in the Walk Of Freedom event this year: https://www.cbs19.tv/article/news/local/opal-lee-wont-lead-annual-juneteenth-march-this-year-due-to-health-issues/501-201dbbc5-c13a-4340-a584-425b537dd659
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Happy Pride Month! Digital Associate Haley Smith is joined by Avery Belyeu of the Montrose Center and Miriam Laeky of Equality Texas for a Pride Month conversation that centers hope, solidarity, and the power of community. As queer and trans Texans face unprecedented legislative attacks, this episode shifts the spotlight to the people leading the fight for equality across the state. From unpacking the latest legal challenges to sharing real-world strategies for community-building and sustainability, this episode is a reminder that joy is resistance — and that coming together is about more than just surviving, it's about creating something worth fighting for.
Learn more about the Montrose Center: https://montrosecenter.org/.
Learn more about Equality Texas: https://equalitytexas.org/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Amid the business and population boom of Texas, it now takes $90k per year for individual workers and $200k per year for families of four to live here comfortably - way up from just one year ago: https://ktrh.iheart.com/featured/houston-texas-news/content/2025-06-16-the-cost-of-living-comfortably-in-texas-is-on-the-rise/
...At the same time, Texas now leads the nation in workplace deaths - also a function of the "Texas Miracle" as frenzied competition leads to neglect of workplace safety standards: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/state/2025/06/16/workplace-fatalities-safety-texas-fatal-work-injuries-deaths-most-us-states-osha-2024/84185938007/
...It's a bad time to get hurt at work - the Trump administration is clawing back another $119 million in unspent COVID funding for public health from Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/12/texas-dshs-public-health-funding-cuts/
...The restaurant industry is hurting as well, as employment challenges and the flow of diners have both been negatively impacted by the spread of ICE raids: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/texas-restaurants-face-labor-shortages-amid-immigration-crackdown-industry-praises-trumps-pause-on-1/
...The desert north and west of El Paso, over the time since that city began cooperating with Operation Lone Star, has become a deathtrap for migrants: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/16/texas-operation-lone-star-border-el-paso-deaths-migrants-new-mexico/
Tarrant County Judge and staunch, longtime LGBTQ+ rights opponent Tim O'Hare has blocked the placement of a historical marker commemorating a queer hangout in Fort Worth that was unjustly raided in 2009: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/fort-worth-texas-lgbtq-history-marker-20379741.php
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Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
After great worry about how the No Kings events would go on Saturday, there's relief and celebration on Monday as generally, things went quite peacefully and productively indeed: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/14/texas-protests-anti-trump-immigration-no-kings/?_bhlid=5ac4797cc26960c9770e89ecd115fa763f69b1c3
There was a very low degree of violence or law enforcement friction at all of the dozens of No Kings events across the state: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/article/no-kings-protest-20376197.php
How much did Governor Abbott spend activating an estimated 7,000 Texas National Guard members and extra DPS officers? Compared to Trump's activation in California, it could approach $200 million: https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2025/06/10/pentagon-says-deploying-marines-and-national-guard-to-la-will-cost-134-million/
With No Kings and the 89th Legislature (hopefully) in the rear view mirror, it's time to start focusing on the upcoming elections in Texas over the next two Novembers: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/16/texas-democrats-candidates-2026-midterms-senate-governor/
Happening tomorrow, Tuesday June 17: an online seminar on the state of the gun violence crisis in Texas hosted by Texas Gun Sense: https://txgunsense.org/calendar/?fbclid=PAAaYtK2VIS9GAOrM5k7dO3b40IebC4WxhEU6eHLviGVqWBA8oDLmmnWOMlbk&mibextid=Zxz2cZ
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What a week - and what a weekend it's likely to be. Everyone be safe if you're attending protests - again, keep it safe and legal. We're gonna have a lot to unpack on Monday.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
We enjoyed a visit with one of our favorite regulars, Austin State Senator Sarah Eckhardt, to talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly (not necessarily in that order) of the recently-concluded 89th Texas Legislature. There was plenty to lament and plenty to commit to repairing later - but there were also tactical wins for Democrats, and some good legislation passed as well.
Learn more about Senator Eckhardt at https://www.saraheckhardt.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Over 5,000 Texas National Guard troops and 2,000 Texas DPS officers, including special agents and Texas Rangers, have been deployed across the state by Governor Greg Abbott in advance of Saturday's "No Kings" rallies: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/11/greg-abbott-texas-national-guard-immigration-raid-protests/
...Austin Mayor Kirk Watson decries that Governor Abbott would choose to unnecessarily "militarize the streets of the capitol city of the state of Texas": https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/2025/06/12/abbott-to-surge-dps-troopers-national-guard-soldiers-across-texas/84170911007/
...D/FW will see rallies and protests in Dallas, Frisco, McKinney, Denton, Arlington, Fort Worth, Flower Mound and more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2025/06/12/more-than-5000-texas-national-guard-2000-dps-troopers-deployed-ahead-of-protests/
...The Houston area will also see several No Kings events on Saturday, including Conroe, Katy, Sugar Land, League City, Kingwood and more: https://www.khou.com/article/newhttps://www.khou.com/article/news/local/lulac-activist-weekend-protest-gov-abbott-national-guard-dps-rangers-no-kings/285-d7817d8b-96af-4014-a7fb-ce12126e84cfs/local/lulac-activist-weekend-protest-gov-abbott-national-guard-dps-rangers-no-kings/285-d7817d8b-96af-4014-a7fb-ce12126e84cf
...Houston Mayor John Whitmire dismisses a letter from Republican Congressman Wesley Hunt worrying about planned riots, calling it "just not relevant to our city and our society": https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/2025/06/11/523752/mayor-whitmire-rebuffs-republican-congressmans-letter-claiming-riots-are-planned-in-houston/
...San Antonio's tendency towards peaceful civic gatherings is emphasized in an op-ed as National Guard troops move in: https://www.expressnews.com/columnist/elaine-ayala/article/ayala-san-antonio-ice-protests-texas-guardsmen-20373889.php
...Why support independent media? CBS News, covering building ICE-related unrest in Texas, includes a soundbite from yesterday's Kristi Noem press conference - but omits the part where California Senator Alex Padilla is assaulted by Noem's security officers: https://www.cbsnews.com/video/growing-protests-against-ice-operations-in-texas-and-other-states/
...On the very same day, the U.S. House voted to claw back $1.1 billion in public media funding, overriding a united Democrated delegation who remain down three votes due to vacancies, including the former seat of Houston's Sylvester Turner: https://www.npr.org/2025/06/12/g-s1-72223/public-media-funding-up-in-the-air-as-house-prepares-to-vote-on-claw-backs
...U.S. Congressman Vicente Gonzales of south Texas is one of the 74 Democrats taking heat for voting in favor of a House resolution expressing gratitude for ICE's recent work: https://www.axios.com/2025/06/10/dems-splinter-on-ice-hill-leaders
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Governor Abbott promises a militaristic response to protests in Texas, including those on Saturday coinciding with Donald Trump's military birthday parade: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/abbott-puts-texas-national-guard-dps-troopers-in-place-for-planned-protests-we-are-not-intimidated-no-kings-group-says/
...National Guard troops, deployed to San Antonio by Governor Abbott to confront protestors, ended up playing Uno instead: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/live-blog/ice-protests-la-trump-deportation-policy-live-updates-rcna211981
...Interesting timing as Governor Abbott signs into law a bill granting broad leeway to law enforcement officers to use "less lethal" weapons like rubber bullets and tear gas, if they "reasonably believe" they are warranted: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/state/texas-news/texas-gov-greg-abbott-signs-bill-law-officers-use-less-lethal-weapons/287-1206098d-3578-4594-9912-2c644efd8a5a
A veto from Governor Abbott on SB 3, the sweeping ban on THC-based products in Texas, appears to remain a possibility: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/greg-abbott-thc-ban-veto-20372298.php
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Governor Greg Abbott has activated the National Guard to establish a presence countering the anti-ICE protests that have been happening this week in our major cities, in particular targeting one expected today in San Antonio: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/06/10/us/la-protests-marines-ice-trump
...The reaction from Trump is more about his birthday than public safety or immigration: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-birthday-military-parade-protest-threat-b2767425.html
...Sending troops against protestors is a sign of the inherent weakness of Trump's position, and will do nothing to slow protests down: https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-los-angeles-protests-no-kings-day-resistance-rcna212080
Calling a special session to redraw Texas' congressional district map ahead of the 2026 midterm elections could be awkward for Governor Abbott, considering there's an ongoing court battle over the LAST time they did this happening in El Paso right now: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas-take/article/trump-white-house-congressional-districts-20370864.php
...There is also apparently considerable hesitation among the Texas congressional delegation about the scheme, amid fear that GOP strength could be over-extended: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/11/texas-congress-midcycle-redistricting-trump-republicans/?_bhlid=4f23c6982f6d92d560aa7198cda0ebfb18f5f87f
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Much like the recent GOP power grab at the Tarrant County Commissioners Court, the Texas Republican congressional delegation has begun discussing plans to redraw Texas' electoral maps to stave off defeat in the 2026 midterms: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/09/texas-redistricting-congress-house-republicans-midterms/
Civic unrest over ICE tactics and Trump's crackdown on protests continued last night in Dallas: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/dallas-immigration-advocates-rally-ongoing-raids/
...And also in Austin, where tear gas canisters were fired: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/09/austin-protest-immigration-customs-enforcement/
...Austin Police Department Chief Lisa Davis says that tear gas was deployed by Texas DPS troopers: https://www.statesman.com/picture-gallery/news/2025/06/09/austin-protest-ice-immigration-raids-los-angeles-la-riots-photos/84122861007/
More ICE ambushes of immigrants leaving court hearings yesterday, in Houston: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/crime/article/houston-immigration-court-arrests-ice-agents-20368949.php
The Collin County Democratic Party is organizing a protest at State Senator Angela Paxton's office later this month: https://www.mobilize.us/collindemocrats/event/798800/
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The Trump regime cracks down on anti-ICE protestors in Los Angeles: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj93d3r0zz0o
...California Governor Gavin Newsome: "This is about authoritarian tendencies. This about command and control. This is about power": https://t.co/uuAiHzYiIo
(https://x.com/Acyn/status/1931914095382683742?t=0lQ3pMrV8fm2BgTsRdCUfw&s=03
...Houston Congressman Al Green: https://x.com/RepAlGreen/status/1931854998792483178?t=Hch52bcXItXUxhnB663h5Q&s=03
...Dallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett: https://x.com/RepJasmine/status/1931765398464278764?t=uecU2-aFLGLqskq7CdNCuw&s=03
...San Antonio Congresman Joaquin Castro: https://x.com/JoaquinCastrotx/status/1931850211707818119?t=pgmCz58LyIIHwUNnm5TSjw&s=03
...Robert Reich writes that "we are witnessing the first stages of a Trump police state": https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/09/trump-police-state-robert-reich
...While Texas normally resists federal control, the current state government is in close lockstep with Trump: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/09/texas-doj-undocumented-tuition-courts-friendly-lawsuit-paxton/?_bhlid=903e7fc1680827506b8a6fbc8da6f56a70ef7d2f
...As Governor Abbott prepares to sign a law that will force all Texas sheriff's departments to enter collaborative agreements with ICE: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/gov-abbott-to-sign-bill-into-law-requiring-county-jails-to-work-with-ice/
...More on those agreements with Francesca D'Annunzio of the Texas Observer: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-212-a-giant-ice-army-how-local-police-in/id1552998795?i=1000705993353
...All of this leads into Saturday's No Kings Day rallies and protests, dozens of which dot the entire range of Texas: https://www.nokings.org/
Runoff elections across Texas this weekend confirm a progressive resurgence, including Gina Ortiz Jones' win for San Antonio mayor: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/07/san-antonio-mayor-gina-ortiz-jones/
...Other wins confirm that Republicans in Texas "don't own the cities anymore": https://www.lonestarleft.com/p/texas-runoff-results-prove-the-tide?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1220969&post_id=165491676&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=33j12m&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
We're celebrating our 15th anniversary in Dallas Tonight! Join us: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary
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We're joined on our weekly airing of the grievances by Progress Texas board member Jason Smith, who's also a Fort Worth civil rights attorney who has had a front row seat to the blatant, racist power grab being executed by the Republican-dominated Tarrant County Commissioners Court, via which a premature redistricting effort is on the verge of successfully drawing one of the two Democrats on that court out of the picture - a game plan to which Republicans nationwide, as they watch their popularity among the electorate fade, are lately more commonly resorting. Fort Worth and Tarrant County are considered political belweathers for the rest of Texas, and this situation is no different.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The very public breakup of Donald Trump and Elon Musk is a great example of the dangers our country faces when big decisions are made by impulsive, egotistical billionaires: https://www.wsj.com/politics/elon-musk-trump-fight-gop-bill-c2e0be66?mod=WSJ_home_mediumtopper_pos_1
State Rep. Jolanda Jones has announced a run for the U.S. House seat representing Houston's 18th Congressional District: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/05/jolanda-jones-sylvester-turner-congress-texas-legislature/
In spite of billions spend in a militarized effort to repel and round up undocumented migrants, Texas will once again pass on requiring businesses to verify the citizenship of their new hires: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/05/texas-e-verify-requirements-immigration/
...A migrant woman charged with a Trump-trumped-up charge of trespassing on a military zone has been acquitted of that charge, in its first courtroom trial: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/05/texas-el-paso-trial-immigration-military-zone/
We're continuing to follow the Tarrant County redistricting story, including a deep dive later today on our In Progress podcast: https://progresstexas.org/blog/racist-republicans-can%E2%80%99t-win-without-changing-rules
We look forward to celebrating our 15th anniversary! Join us for a celebratory gathering in Dallas on Monday June 9: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary
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We were invited to join newly-elected Texas Democratic Party Chairman Kendall Scudder earlier this week in beautiful Kerrville for a town hall with the Kerr County Democrats - it was a well-attended, productive and enjoyable meeting, in which we all learned about the common needs and goals of rural and urban progressive folks across the Lone Star State, and how those two worlds can come together in advantageous ways as we lead up to the 2025 and 2026 elections.
Learn more about the Kerr County Democratic Party at https://kerrcountydemocrats.org/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Governor Abbott signs HB2, the public school funding bill, into law - but it falls well short of really getting our schools square with their expenses: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/04/texas-public-education-schools-funding-bill-explained/
...Insufficient funding is part of the broader GOP game plan lately, as the Trump adminstration slashes all kinds of federal funding for Texas: https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2025-06-06/the-texas-legislative-session-is-over-heres-the-elephant-in-the-room/
As Pride Month begins, so begins the unpacking of an unprecedented amount of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation from the 89th session: https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-lege-2025-anti-lgbtq-bills-passed/
...The mayor of Taylor has angered his constituents by withholding a proclamation of Pride Month, upsetting an established tradition: https://www.chron.com/news/article/taylor-texas-pride-month-20358869.php
...And D/FW wonders, why haven't the Texas Rangers gotten with the program as all 29 other MLB teams have, and set a home game in June for Pride Night? https://www.statesman.com/story/sports/mlb/2025/06/04/texas-rangers-pride-night-2025-mlb-pride-month/84009747007/
As expected, the first lawsuit against the new, heavily-gerrymandered district map adopted by the Tarrant County Commissioners Court earlier this week has arrived: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/article307903175.html
We look forward to celebrating our 15th anniversary this summer! Join us for a celebratory gathering in Dallas on Monday June 9: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
On the heels of the Johnson County Sheriff's Department's abuse of ALPR license plate tracking systems to follow a Texas woman who had self-managed an abortion, the Austin Police Department has also been taking liberties with the new technology: https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2025-06-03/emails-reveal-improper-use-by-apd-of-license-plate-reader-program/
Two months after ICE arrested almost 50 people at a Hays County rental house on suspicion of Venezuelan gang affiliation, none have been formally charged, while their identities and whereabouts remain secret - they've effectively been disappeared: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/04/texas-immigration-raid-hays-county-austin-venezuelan-gang/
...Meanwhile the effects of both Donald Trump's immigration policies and his reckless slinging about of tariffs are impacting the restaurant and hospitality sectors in Texas, among others: https://www.keranews.org/business-economy/2025-06-04/tariffs-immigration-policy-texas-restaurants
The Tarrant County Commissioners Court voted on party lines yesterday to make one of its voting precints - the only represented by a Black commissioner - more Republican-friendly, as MAGA State Rep Tony Tinderholt announces a run for that seat: https://fortworthreport.org/2025/06/03/tarrant-county-commissioners-vote-3-2-to-redistrict-adopting-more-republican-friendly-map/
..."This wasn’t a coincidence. It was a coordinated political hit job, plain and simple": https://www.lonestarleft.com/p/the-conservation-of-white-supremacy
We look forward to celebrating our 15th anniversary this summer! Join us for a celebratory gathering in Dallas on Monday June 9: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The end of the 89th Texas Legislature represents the beginning of the analysis of the damage done. From the Texas Tribune: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/02/texas-legislature-ends-session-republican-agenda/?_bhlid=f3bc5066045403914b35bcc5884d32ca437e86bf
...From WFAA in Dallas: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/look-at-bills-abbott-will-consider-signing-as-89th-texas-legislative-session-ends/287-e1651721-06f3-40df-b388-1b978d7785fb
...From Axios Texas: https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2025/06/02/texas-legislature-vouchers-thc-ban-school-finance
...Rep. Gene Wu's appearance on CBS Texas: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/democratic-texas-lawmaker-criticizes-bills-passed-as-legislative-session-ends-democrats-are-enraged/
Texas' status as a renewable energy leader is safe for now as three bills that sought to undercut that industry failed to survive the session: https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/politics/the-quiet-demise-of-texas-anti-renewables-legislation
We will have 17 constitutional amendments to vote on this November: https://ballotpedia.org/Texas_2025_ballot_measures
We look forward to celebrating our 15th anniversary this summer! Join us for a celebratory gathering in Dallas on Monday June 9: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
An impressive takedown of Texas GOP Senators goes viral: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/texan-goes-viral-for-calling-out-legislators-over-anti-trans-bill_n_68388fa8e4b06ff5140d4a4b
As Sine Die arrives - along with the beginning of Pride Month - Texas Republicans have sent Senate Bill 12, a bill outlawing LGBTQ+ clubs in Texas schools, to the Governor: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/31/texas-house-tempers-flare-gay-club-ban/
...Fort Worth Rep. Nicole Collier wonders if they'll come for Black and Latino groups next: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article307626896.html
A great many bills die with the end of Sine Die, including a bunch that progressives are glad to see go away, for now: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/texas-legislature-bills-killed-20349702.php
The Trump administration announced the cancellation of over $1 billion in federal clean energy initiatives in Texas on Friday: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/energy-environment/2025/05/30/522760/federal-government-cancels-over-1-billion-in-texas-clean-energy-projects/
Worries build about the use of license plate reading technology to track and harrass people leaving Texas to acquire abortion care: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/may/31/a-dystopian-surveillance-fear-has-become-reality-in-texas
Worry is also building that CEO's at financial and tech companies have not been forthcoming about the decimation of entry-level jobs by AI - and politicians have been sleepwalking into this disaster as well: https://www.axios.com/2025/05/28/ai-jobs-white-collar-unemployment-anthropic
We look forward to celebrating our 15th anniversary this summer! Join us for a celebratory gathering in Dallas on Monday June 9: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary
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The 134 PAC, an organized group of progressives and Democrats from the vast expanse of rural, Republican-dominated Texas, has a plan to convert those folks into the unified, activated voting bloc that they should be through unity with their urban compatriots and mobilization of a proper, statewide resistance to MAGA rule in Texas.
Both Progress Texas Podcasting Director Chris Mosser and Advocacy Manager Reagan Stone will be participating in the 134 PAC's upcoming Rural Texas Summit in Bastrop, where a terrific lineup of speakers and panels will address the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in our continued push to turn Texas blue. We're joined for a preview by Carla Schoonover Porter and Steve Bridges of the organization, and our good friend Nancy Thompson of Mothers Against Greg Abbott, who will participate on Saturday.
Learn more about 134 PAC and their upcoming event at https://www.the134pac.org/.
Learn more about Mothers Against Greg Abbott at https://mothersagainstgregabbott.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
The weekly kvetching session comes as the last days of the 89th session play out like a slow-motion train wreck. Dan Patrick makes massive ass at a truly bizarre (and entirely unnecessary) press conference, Elon Musk bows out in disgrace in D.C., and Texas Republicans make sure wild-eyed whackjobs can keep their guns.
Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A Texas Tribune/Propublica investigation reveals that the Trump administration lied repeatedly about the criminal backgrounds of the 238 Venezuelan migrants they sent to a prison in El Salvador from Texas last March: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/30/trump-el-salvador-deportees-criminal-convictions-cecot-venezuela/
...While pictures of children in zip-tie handcuffs emerge from a San Antonio immigration court: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/migrant-kids-zip-tied-20351707.php
A North Texas sheriff has been caught using a national license plate database to try to track the location of a Texas woman who had self-managed an abortion: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/crime/texas-abortion-license-plate-camera-b2760411.html
As Elon Musk does all he can to rehab his ruinous public image, the new city administrator of Starbase in South Texas is warning property owners that they may soon no longer control what they do with their property: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/musk-s-spacex-town-in-texas-warns-residents-they-may-lose-right-to-continue-using-their-property/ar-AA1FJsdy
International attention for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, which concludes that Dan's Ban on THC while Patrick accepts thousands from alcohol lobbyists officially makes him a "hypocrite": https://www.irishstar.com/news/us-news/hypocritical-texas-leader-lauds-thc-35309266
The Founding Fathers were fascinated by the emerging technology of vaccines - and would likely be confused as Texas supports anti-vax views while also fighting a measles outbreak: https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a64919440/texas-measles-oklahoma-schools-montana-lab/
The ACLU and other orgs advocating for the separation of church and state have announced plans for a lawsuit they'll drop when Governor Abbott signs the new "Ten Commandments" bill into law: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/civil-rights-groups-to-sue-texas-over-ten-commandments-bill/
We look forward to celebrating our 15th anniversary this summer! Join us for a celebratory gathering in Dallas on Monday June 9: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
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A pattern emerged this May Election season for D/FW, Houston, Austin, and more: voters turned out for progressive candidates and issues, to stomp out bigotry and book bans. For this episode, we’re featuring several candidates from across the state who want to ride that wave through the Runoff Elections, with early voting from May 27 to June 3, and Election Day on June 7: we're joined for this talk by San Antonio City Council Member Dr. Sukh Kaur, runoff candidates Ric Galvan and Kelly Ann Gonzalez, and Rowlett City Council candidate John P. Bowers. Don’t forget to show up for these high-impact, but low-turnout elections!
Learn more about the incumbent candidate for San Antonio City Council—District 1, Dr. Sukh Kaur: https://www.vote4sukh.com/
Learn more about one of two progressive candidates for San Antonio City Council—District 6, Ric Galvan: https://www.votericford6.com/
...and the other, Kelly Ann Gonzalez: https://www.votekellyann.com/
Learn more about candidate for Rowlett City Council—Place 6, John P. Bowers: https://bowersforrowlett.com/
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Governor Abbott weighs in on a tragic accidental death at Grapevine Lake, calling for the death penalty against the Venezuelan national alleged to have caused it: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/ava-moore-daikerlyn-alejandra-gonzalez-grapevine-20349012.php
Elon Musk is apparently out of the Trump cadre, after critizicing the "big beautiful bill" and its certain massive bloating of the national debt: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/elon-musk-leaving-trump-administration-white-house-official-confirms-2025-05-29/
...Which, by the way, represents a very direct $1.1 trillion transfer from the poorest Americans to the richest Americans: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/23/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-catherine-rampell.html
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's press conference on THC products - in which he claimed they cause insanity, lied about their THC content, and then tossed them into the crowd - was a complete clown show: https://www.austinchronicle.com/columns/2025-05-30/thc-ban-imminent-as-texas-house-approves-prohibition-amendment/
...Much more sane, but still quite stingy, are the proposed expansions to the Texas Compassionate Use Program: https://themarijuanaherald.com/2025/05/texas-governor-to-sign-major-medical-marijuana-expansion-bill-into-law/
Legislation to undercut renewable energy expansion appears to be dead in the water: https://electrek.co/2025/05/28/texas-just-shot-its-wind-solar-boom-in-the-foot-on-purpose/
...While a bill allowing expedited approval for home solar gear is headed for the Governor: https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2025/05/28/texas-legislature-passes-bill-to-expedite-solar-energy-storage-permitting/
We look forward to celebrating our 15th anniversary this summer! Join us for a celebratory gathering in Dallas on Monday June 9: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Dallas U.S. Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett promises a counter to Donald Trump should Democrats retake the House in 2026: https://www.latintimes.com/rep-jasmine-crockett-says-dems-will-investigate-trump-if-they-reclaim-house-midterms-well-do-583793
...Meanwhile, Austin U.S. Congressman Greg Casar is talking about an investigation into connection between Trump's international tariff negotiations and Elon Musk's companies: https://bsky.app/profile/calltoactivism.bsky.social/post/3lpshelshks2m
Two new laws expanding the investigatory powers of the Texas Attorney General may give Ken Paxton an opportunity to disrupt elections and target nonprofits assisting migrants in the year leading up to his primary challenge to John Cornyn: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5320455-texas-attorney-general-electoral-powers/
A new law that would restrict political protests on Texas college campuses curiously follows 2019 legislation Republicans insisted upon to allow conservative political events in every corner of those same campuses: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/27/texas-universities-protests-free-speech/
Another new law would forbid "red flag laws" in Texas, preventing law enforcement from taking guns away from people who have made threats against others or are otherwise a danger to themselves or others: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/27/texas-anti-red-flag-law-senate-bill-1362/
Another new law would give insurance companies and lawsuit defendants new opportunities to avoid compensating people injured due to negligence: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/injury-medical-lawsuits-texas-senate-bill-30/285-80288d6f-d5ce-45c3-80e3-0f3f1509894b
Another new law seeks to define men and women by their reproductive organs - it's really just another step in the continued marginalization of trans people in Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/28/texas-trans-biological-sex-state-documents-bill/
We look forward to celebrating our 15th anniversary this summer! Join us for a celebratory gathering in Dallas on Monday June 9: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Austin Rep. James Talarico scored the viral moment of the holiday weekend at the Lege, with a gotcha on Republican Rep. Candy Noble regarding her violation of the Sabbath in order to force the Ten Commandments into Texas classrooms: https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/05/26/ten-commandments-bill-texas-tiktok/
Hemp industry advocates are pleading with Governor Abbott to veto the THC ban bill, which will undercut an $8 billion business in one fell swoop: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/25/texas-thc-hemp-ban-abbott-dan-patrick/
...Medical cannabis advocates are also up in arms as the scope of our already-stingy Texas Compassionate Use Program or TCUP is further narrowed by Republicans: https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/thc-ban-medical-marijuana-20344051.php
Governor Abbott is also poised to sign a new law that, in the midst of a measles outbreak, will make it easier for Texas parents to opt their kids out of vaccinations: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/25/texas-vaccine-form-download/
In a session relatively quiet on guns, Texas Republicans have identified city and county gun buyback programs as something they can't tolerate: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/26/texas-gun-buyback-program-ban/
Apple CEO Tim Cook is imploring Governor Abbott to veto HB 186, the ban on minors from using social media, citing privacy concerns for all of us: https://digitalmarketreports.com/news/39676/apple-ceo-urged-texas-governor-to-drop-online-child-safety-bill/
We look forward to celebrating our 15th anniversary this summer! Join us for a celebratory gathering in Dallas on Monday June 9: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
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Advocacy Manager Reagan Stone reviews two bills that threaten your voting rights: the Texas version of the SAVE Act and the “Use it or lose it” bills! Joined by Vote Riders’ Vicente Martinez to discuss SB 16, Texas’ SAVE Act introduces new, incessant barriers to register to vote—requiring proof of citizenship to register. And from the National Coalition for Voting Rights, Robin Lederer and Dr. Andrea Barreiro discuss the “Use it or lose it bills,” or SB 396/HB 4253—as well as the soon to be published study on these bills' actions and their correlation to disproportionately disenfranchising marginalized Texans.
Learn more about Vote Riders: https://www.voteriders.org/
Learn more about the National Coalition for Voting Rights: https://www.ncvr.org/
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Our weekly decompression session comes in the closing days of the Texas Legislature - when all the bad stuff we've fought against for months tends to happen anyway. Looked for a minute there like we might make a sensible move on cannabis - but noooo. And Sam has an idea that might make us all feel better about Republicans refusing once again to give Texas public schools and teachers what they need to get their jobs done.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
As the line against the Trump agenda falls in the U.S. House, do Democrats have an age problem? https://newrepublic.com/post/195617/republicans-pass-tax-bill-democrat-deaths
...Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder issues a statement on the Trump tax bill: https://www.texasdemocrats.org/media/breaking-house-republicans-pass-trumps-billionaire-benefitting-bill-that-screws-the-working-class
HB 2, after a compromise between the Senate's stingy $55 increase in the basic allotment and an additional $500 million in funding to appease the House, tentatively passed the Senate yesterday: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/05/23/texas-senate-tentatively-approves-sweeping-school-finance-teacher-pay-bill/
...This overdue increase in funding is welcome, but not all Democratic lawmakers are impressed, including House Minority Leader Gene Wu: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/21/texas-house-senate-public-school-finance-deal/
...Nor is everyone impressed with the now-successful GOP effort to pass prayer periods in Texas public schools, which was helped to the finish line by several Democrats: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/22/texas-school-prayer-period-house-approval/
Dan's Ban - the determined effort towards a blanket ban on THC products in Texas by Lt. Governor Dan Patrick - spells disaster for a great many Texas hemp businesses: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/22/texas-hemp-products-00366346
...There's still hope for an expansion of Texas' Compassionate Use Program, or TCUP, in HB 46: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/12/texas-marijunia-medical-chronic-pain-crohns-cancer-glaucoma-ptsd/
The much-discussed "anti-squatting" bill, SB 38 - which in effect would allow Texas landlords to evict tenants with little due process in many cases - is set to be heard on the House floor today: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/2025/squatting-bill-evictions/
This Memorial Day weekend, let's all refocus on celebrating the Americans who gave their lives in the battle against fascism and authoritarianism - and recommit ourselves to stopping them today: https://www.dispatch.com/story/opinion/columns/guest/2025/05/22/trump-bone-spurs-military-service-heroes-memorial-day/83743104007/
We look forward to celebrating our 15th anniversary this summer! Join us for a celebratory gathering in Dallas on Monday June 9: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
After a contentious all-night fight, Republicans in the U.S. House have passed Donald Trump's "big beautiful bill" - a truly historic fleecing of working-class Americans for the benefit of the rich: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-republicans-set-pre-dawn-votes-get-trump-tax-bill-over-finish-line-2025-05-22/
...It was made much easier by Governor Greg Abbott's delay in allowing Harris County voters to replace the late Congressman Sylvester Turner: https://nypost.com/2025/05/21/us-news/last-8-congressional-deaths-were-all-dems-boosting-gops-razor-thin-vote-margins/
The Texas House gave initial approval to two abortion-related bills, SB 31 or the "Life Of The Mother Act", and SB 33, which would prohibit Texas cities from spending public money on abortion travel funds: https://communityimpact.com/austin/south-central-austin/texas-legislature/2025/05/21/texas-house-greenlights-bipartisan-bill-clarifying-when-doctors-can-perform-life-saving-abortions/
A House debate that began as a discussion of how to regulate and tax THC products ended up back where it started, with Dan Patrick's goal of a full THC ban: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/texas/2025/05/22/522028/texas-house-passes-total-ban-on-thc/
The Texas House passed HB 186, which will bans Texans under 18 from having or using social media accounts: https://www.ksla.com/2025/05/21/texas-house-passes-bill-banning-minors-using-social-media-platforms/
A bill that will require Texas schools to teach on the dangers of communism - but notably, not the dangers of fascism - passed with broad bipartisan support: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/21/texas-communism-dangers-schools-fascism/
Bills regarding a "Texas Bitcoin Reserve", recognizing interstate gun licenses, and cracking down on AI-generated child porn all passed yesterday as well: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2025/05/22/texas-lawmakers-ok-bills-on-handgun-licenses-cryptocurrency-ai-abuses/83768249007/
We look forward to celebrating our 15th anniversary this summer! Join us for a celebratory gathering in Dallas on Monday June 9: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
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Former Congressman Beto O'Rourke has lately been staging live town hall events in cities and towns across Texas, in both blue and red counties, raising funds and volunteers for his voter activation PAC Powered By People, and - some might theorize - perhaps testing the waters for a run against John Cornyn in 2026. We caught the full audio of Beto's event in Garland on Monday night, which we present here in full.
Learn more about Powered By People at https://poweredxpeople.org/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Latest on the Trump bill Rep. Julie Johnson commented on this morning: https://www.reuters.com/business/us-stock-futures-dip-bond-yields-climb-trumps-tax-bill-standoff-unfolds-2025-05-21/
El Paso is seeing more adult measles infections than those affecting children - due possibly to high vaccination rates in kids, and older Texans who may be more vulnerable than they thought: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/21/texas-el-paso-measles/
SB 2880, the bill ramping up penalties surrounding abortion medication and against people who seek abortion care outside of Texas, is seen as a model that other Republican-dominated states will follow: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/05/new-texas-abortion-ban-pill-sb-2880.html
...Meanwhile SB 31 - the "Life Of The Mother Act" - which was suspected of allowing by technicality the additional restrictions that SB 2880 proposes outright, is set for a House vote today: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/21/texas-abortion-exception-save-mothers/
Environment Texas provides a rundown of the current status of the remaining environmental and energy related legislation still active in the closing days of the session: https://environmentamerica.org/texas/articles/17-days-to-go-where-things-stand-in-the-texas-legislature/
Democrats have a real shot at taking the U.S. Senate in 2026, and John Cornyn's longtime seat is seen as central to the opportunity: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/democrats-have-a-real-shot-at-retaking-the-senate-in-2026.html
We look forward to celebrating our 15th anniversary this summer! Join us for a celebratory gathering in Dallas on Monday June 9: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
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We're super proud to be the first to bring you a talk with freshly-announced Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor, Austin State Rep. Vikki Goodwin!
Dan Patrick, in almost a decade in that very powerful office, has been central to all manner of conservative malfeasance in Texas - thumbing the scales for the wealthy at the expense of the working class, undermining faith in science and our medical community, destroying the reproductive freedom of Texas women, allowing the unfettered proliferation of guns through our society - the list is endless. Change in this important position is needed, and we're proud that Rep. Goodwin accepted our invitation to announce her candidacy with us. We wish her good luck and happy campaigning!
Learn more about Rep. Goodwin's campaign at https://vikkigoodwin.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Donald Trump's fixation on celebrity rejection has drawn his attention to Kamala Harris' October 2024 rally in Houston: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/trump-harris-houston-rally-beyonce-20334757.php
John Cornyn's polling numbers are vastly outpaced by challenger Ken Paxton's - leading to GOP fears of a toxic candidate in the general election: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/tensions-grow-new-poll-shows-senator-cornyn-trailing-attorney-general-paxton-republican-primary-u-s-senate/
Texas school districts are dismayed at the prospect of HB 2, having been worked over by the Senate, providing funds insufficient to help with their growing operational deficits: https://www.texasobserver.org/school-districts-senate-finance-plan/
After the fears surrounding the "Life Of The Mother Act" that it might surreptitiously resurrect old laws criminalizing women for seeking abortions, a pair of current bills would much more directly do so: https://couriertexas.com/dfw/2025/05/16/texas-abortion-trap/
Republicans are proposing that Texas history students continue using the outdated "B.C." and "A.D." timeline designations because, you know, religion: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/19/texas-bc-ad-christianity/
We look forward to celebrating our 15th anniversary this summer! Join us for a celebratory gathering in Dallas on Monday June 9: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
President Joe Biden's prostate cancer diagnosis should be seen as a reminder of the importance of continued medical research investment: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/trending/article/texas-lawmakers-joe-biden-20333919.php
HB 49, in the rush to completion at the end of the 89th Legislature, would protect oil companies from legal liability for damage caused by the use of produced water, which they wish to sell to farmers and dump in rivers: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/19/texas-legislature-produced-water-legal-protections-oil-gas/?_bhlid=dd62e22f81d6a0713ef8d55fe4b382ab41846318
...See our podcast on produced water and why it's not a good option to shore up dwindling water supply in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/happy-hour-146-dark-water-how-texas-railroad-commission-threatens-our-future
To clarify on Friday's Daily Dispatch: while the "anti-squatter" bill HB 32 did die with the House deadline's arrival on Friday, its identical companion bill SB 38 is still in play - thus the rights of Texas renters are still in jeopardy: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1BoDTqhf11/
School financing, the Texas Lottery, Dan Patrick's hemp ban and Greg Abbott's bail reform are all still on the table as Sine Die approaches in two weeks: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/05/19/5-things-to-watch-as-texas-legislative-session-nears-end/
ICE detention of suspected undocumented immigrants in El Paso has prompted a scathing report from Amnesty International: https://elpasomatters.org/2025/05/14/el-paso-ice-detention-center-human-rights-violations-amnesty-international/
Notorious right-wing crusading federal judge Matthew Kascmaryk has ruled that LGBTQ+ people are not protected from workplace harassment by the Civil Rights Act: https://truthout.org/articles/federal-judge-strikes-down-lgbtq-protections-against-workplace-discrimination/
Attorney General Ken Paxton has been hit with two lawsuits from five Texas district attorneys over new rules he wishes to use to pry into their prosecutorial records: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/16/texas-attorney-general-district-attorneys-lawsuits/
In a harbinger of things to come in Texas, Oklahoma schools see a new wave of conservative disinformation incorporated into lesson plans, including the study of "discrepancies" in the 2020 election: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/17/oklahoma-high-schools-election-conspiracy-theories
We look forward to celebrating our 15th anniversary this summer! Join us for a celebratory gathering in Dallas on Monday June 9: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Our weekly airing of the grievances is perhaps a little spicy this time because frankly, we're sweating our butts off. Lucky for Texas, renewable energy has carried the load keeping the AC on, but Republicans still hate it. A curious child marriage bill gets a curious House vote, which we'll explain. Ted Cruz wants to give babies a grand (thanks Ted!). And, the nerds of PT are fired up over Andor and the important political lessons it carries for progressive types these days. Have a great weekend, and may the schwartz be with you.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The deadline for the Texas House to act on bills filed by its own members arrived at midnight last night - bills allowing landlords to more easily evict tenants, and improving conditions for kids in our juvenile justice system, are both DOA for this session: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/15/texas-house-deadline-winners-losers/
...Rep. John Bucy's consistent effort to establish online voter registration also didn't make the deadline, but it did get more attention than it has since he started pressing for it in 2019 - better luck next session: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/15/texas-online-voter-registration-bill/
...Rep. Terry Canales' bill to force Texas' prison system to install air conditioning remains in play: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/05/15/required-air-conditioning-for-state-run-prisons-advances-in-texas-house/
The Senate continues hearings on its version of HB 2, the public school funding bill, which by most measures falls even further short than the original did: https://communityimpact.com/houston/conroe-montgomery/texas-legislature/2025/05/15/texas-senate-panel-unveils-amended-version-of-8b-school-finance-proposal/
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the mother of a Black Texas man killed by a police officer in 2016, rejecting the "moment of the threat doctrine" used by lower courts to limit the factors considered in excessive force cases: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-revives-excessive-force-claim-deadly-houston-police-shoo-rcna199171
Despite dwindling water supplies, oil companies continue sucking up billions of gallons for their private use - and they're supported by current Texas law: https://www.fastcompany.com/91334609/texas-is-in-an-extreme-drought-and-oil-companies-are-using-billions-of-gallons-of-water
...Extreme heat also poses a serious threat to expectant mothers: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/national-international/texas-rising-temperatures-climate-change-pregnancy/3841533/
There's a big gun buyback session happening in El Paso on Saturday morning: https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/2025/05/13/el-paso-gun-buy-back-event-is-giving-up-to-200-to-turn-in-firearms/83595649007/
We look forward to celebrating our 15th anniversary this summer! Join us for a celebratory gathering in Dallas on Monday June 9: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Progress Texas Executive Director Kathleen Thompson took part in a terrific celebration and fundraising event for the Texas Democratic Party hosted by the Funky East Dallas Democrats club - better known as The FEDDs - as they celebrated the rise of one of their founding members, Kendall Scudder, to the position of party chair! Kathleen asked important questions regarding recent progressive wins, how to keep the momentum going, and the plan to lead Texas Democrats out of the wilderness in 2026.
Learn more about The FEDDs at https://funkyeastdallasdemocrats.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The long-languishing HB 2, the promised "historic" public school finance proposal purported to offset concerns about the impact to public schools by private school vouchers, will be heard at the Capitol today after massive cuts by Senate Republicans - the increase to the basic allotment goes from about $500 to a paltry $55: https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/texas-school-funding-teacher-raise-20327616.php
...Watch for a fiery debate over the gutting of HB 2, just as hundreds of bills are crowding towards the finish line: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/14/texas-public-school-funding-legislature/
Bail reform, a priority of sufficient importance to Governor Abbott to come with the threat of special sessions, advances in the Senate: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/politics/texas-legislature/texas-senate-constitutional-amendment-require-judges-deny-bond-felony-offenses-repeat-offenders/269-6c5c7ac8-e686-4fb7-a917-3299dad341e1
Corporate fat cats like Elon Musk get a break in a newly-signed law that will limit the ability for shareholders to sue those companies: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/greg-abbott-elon-musk-20327468.php
Booksellers, including Half Price Books, are warning that a new obscenity law will upend their businesses: https://www.chron.com/news/article/texas-bookstores-obscene-bill-20327441.php
We look forward to celebrating our 15th anniversary this summer! Join us for a celebratory gathering in Dallas on Monday June 9: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The ERCOT dashboard shows that solar power was the primary source for Texas energy throughout the first day of this historic heat wave yesterday: https://www.ercot.com/gridmktinfo/dashboards
...Ironic that at the very same time, Republicans in Austin are doing all they can to undermine future renewable energy development: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/us/politics/renewable-energy-republicans.html
A great number of bills - some good, others not so good - are in danger of dying as the 89th Legislature winds down: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/05/13/texas-public-schools-dems-worry-time-running-out-as-finance-bill-languishing-in-senate/
...Including HB 2, having languished in committee for three weeks, and looking likely to be the victim of massive Senate cuts: https://x.com/scottbraddock/status/1922471412029079729?t=S3jx3uElUvMjYqSmbVpSHQ&s=03
...And a great many MAGA bills we'd just as soon see die, including abortion medication restrictions, book and DEI bans, the Ten Commandments in classrooms, and on and on: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/14/texas-legislature-agenda-items-taxes-water-abortion/?_bhlid=12ea18a3d1b222f39cdd67563d86ca6f2783f5ed
Lubbock ISD stands to be gutted by the new voucher program, as many of its church-affiliated private schools are within range of the voucher amount: https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/news/education/2025/05/14/cost-of-lubbock-area-private-schools-with-texas-school-voucher-education-savings-account-program/83432786007/
The incoming bloody primary battle between Senator John Cornyn and Ken Paxton presents a rare opportunity for a steal, if the Democrats can elevate the right candidate: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/05/14/cornyn-paxton-texas-gop-primary-infighting-00346390
We look forward to celebrating our 15th anniversary this summer! Join us for a celebratory gathering in Dallas on Monday June 9: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
All-time temperature records look likely to fall for both San Antonio and Austin as a dangerous and alarmingly early heat wave arrives: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/weather/article/dangerous-extreme-heat-texas-20323488.php
...Even those who are bullish about ERCOT's prospects with this heat wave are concerned about the many fossil fuel-powered plants that are offline for "normal" May maintenance: https://www.expressnews.com/business/article/texas-grid-ercot-spring-heat-wave-thermal-outages-20323306.php
...This kind of heat is no joke - it's important to take extra care and to check in on the elderly or otherwise vulnerable: https://www.statesman.com/story/weather/severe/2025/05/12/texas-heat-wave-extreme-temperatures-texas-weather-austin-san-antonio-houston-dallas/83578591007/
Crunch time arrives for bills in the 89th Legislature, as the drop dead moment arrives this week: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/2025/05/12/520648/its-crunch-time-for-texas-house-bills-as-three-key-deadlines-hit-this-week/
The National Council of Nonprofits has issued a warning that draft tax legislation released by the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee contains provisions that would allow Donald Trump to arbitrarily shut down non-profit media orgs including NPR, PBS...and Progress Texas: https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/articles/nonprofits-under-threat-whats-house-tax-bill-and-how-you-can-help
We look forward to celebrating our 15th anniversary this summer! Join us for a celebratory gathering in Dallas on Monday June 9: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
This week's mid-May heat wave is expected to shatter daily high temperature records - parts of Texas will be hotter than parts of the Sahara Desert between Tuesday and Thursday: https://www.expressnews.com/san-antonio-weather/forecast/article/heat-wave-south-texas-historic-temperatures-20320730.php
...ERCOT expects to keep up with power demand, which experts credit to expanded solar generation and battery storage capacity: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/texas-power-grid-demand-heat-wave-may-2025/285-c06738f9-374d-4b31-9416-4286467c0bce
Texas Republicans continue to up their game when it comes to hating on transgender Texans - a new bill will, in effect, erase them when it comes to state documents: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/10/texas-house-trans-bills-advance/
That bill outlawing the distribution of abortion drugs in Texas includes unprecedented legal language that would protect itself from being challenged in state courts: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/12/texas-abortion-pill-bill-state-court/
House Republicans' solution to threats of violence against election workers in Texas? Add more guns to the mix: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2025/05/09/texas-house-votes-to-allow-election-judges-armed-voting-sites/83501483007/
Democrats, once again, in disarry as the SDEC is set to vote on whether to remove Fort Bend County's party chair over allegations of irregular spending - as he himself investigates similar allegations against the prior chair: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/fort-bend/2025/05/09/520985/texas-democrats-to-consider-removal-of-fort-bend-county-party-chair-precinct-chairs-say/
We look forward to celebrating our 15th anniversary this summer! Join us for a celebratory gathering in Dallas on Monday June 9: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
We are proud to have been invited to host a terrific panel of Texas-based enviromental activists and advocates during the recent EarthX conference in Dallas! Advocacy Manager Reagan Stone welcomed representatives of Environment Texas, the Sunrise Movement, Public Citizen and the Environmental Defense Fund for a wide-ranging and enlightening discussion. Enjoy!
Thanks for listening! Learn more about how you can support Progress Texas and our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
We gather for our weekly roundtable and group gripe - this week, a postgame of our terrific Party For Progress in San Antonio, the hugely important runoff election for Mayor in that city (June 7 Alamo City folks!), great engagement on social media as we celebrate Democratic and progressive municipal election wins in the May elections, and as we celebrate Mother's Day this weekend, how Texas makes being a Mom in the Lone Star State so much harder than it needs to be.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our mission at https://progresstexas.org/.
Thumbnail credit to live-action artist Amitai Plasse: https://www.instagram.com/amirocks73/
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
SB 37, which would allow politically-appointed regents to direct the content that Texas college professors teach, is progressing through the Lege: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/texas-university-censorship-patrick-legislature-20313847.php
...Meanwhile, UT Austin has announced a $100 million spend on a permanent building for its School Of Civic Leadership, a conservative-leaning division that houses the right wing think tank the Civitas Institute: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/08/university-texas-civic-leadership-school-100-million-investment/
...Meanwhile, international students across Texas are so frightened by Trump's deportation push that they're deleting their social media accounts and fearful to leave their homes: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/09/texas-international-students-immigration-fears/
...Meanwhile, HB 2, the primary funding bill for Texas public schools that has languished in committee for over two weeks, appears headed for a hearing next week: https://www.raiseyourhandtexas.org/payteachersfundschools/
We look forward to celebrating our 15th anniversary this summer! Join us for a celebratory gathering in Dallas on Monday June 9: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
"Vote harvesting" - voter assistance practices long in place in many Black and Latino communities, but outlawed by the Texas GOP in 2021 - is the crime several Frio County officials have been charged with committing, resulting in their arrests: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/05/07/texas-ken-paxton-vote-harvesting/
Donald Trump's polling approval on the economy has hit a new all-time low in Texas, at only 40%: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/donald-trump-economy-approval-rating-20311330.php
...More in the latest Second Reading podcast from UT Austin's Texas Politics Project: https://podcasts.la.utexas.edu/second-reading-podcast/podcast/new-texas-politics-project-poll-finds-the-economy-and-shifting-immigration-views-shaping-views-of-trump-and-of-legislative-priorities/
Trump's bullying of Mexico has inflamed anti-American sentiment south of the border, particularly unfortunate for Texas, where our cultural ties with Mexico are strong: https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2025-04-25/the-united-states-is-the-villain-of-our-story-nationalism-surges-in-mexico-amid-trump-threats
Rising conservative megadonor Alex Fairly has soured on the hard-right apparatus put into place by his fellow fat cats - perhaps further indication that more Republicans are tiring of their lunatic fringe: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/08/alex-fairly-texas-republican-donor-tim-dunn-texas-house/
Congressman Henry Cuellar, threatened with sanction by the Texas Democratic Party, insists he'll continue his "bipartisan" voting pattern, and that he intends to remain a Democrat: https://www.krgv.com/news/congressman-cuellar-responds-to-efforts-from-the-texas-democratic-party-to-sanction-him/
We look forward to celebrating our 15th anniversary this summer! Join us for a celebratory gathering in Dallas on Monday June 9: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
A terrific time, and far overdue, at our Party For Progress on Tuesday night in San Antonio! We recorded conversations with Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who is in the final weeks of his eight-year, four-term tenure as mayor of San Antonio, as well as the Democrat running to replace him, Gina Ortiz Jones, who is now locked in battle against a Republican challenger who is a longtime ally of Governor Greg Abbott.
Learn more about Mayor Ron Nirenberg at https://www.sa.gov/Directory/Departments/Mayor-Council/Mayor/Biography.
Learn more about Gina Ortiz Jones at https://ginaortizjones.com/.
Thanks for listening - and if YOU'D like to join us for a live event, we have another coming up in Dallas as we celebrate our 15th anniversary, on June 9! Learn more here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Could Texas Republicans be feeling the heat from recent losses in the May municipal elections? A bill amounting to a GOP intellectual takeover of state universities may be scaled back: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/06/texas-house-higher-education-diversity-equity-teaching-bill/
...On the same track, Ken Paxton has dropped his lawsuit against Coppell ISD, which he had accused of teaching "critical race theory": https://www.keranews.org/news/2025-05-06/texas-attorney-general-paxton-drops-critical-race-theory-lawsuit-coppell-isd
Otherwise, it's business as usual for Republicans at the Capitol - while the public school funding bill HB 2 marks two weeks in committee limbo, SB 412 will be signed by Governor Abbott soon - it will allow for teachers in Texas to be targeted for presenting "obscene" materials in class, whatever that means: https://kfoxtv.com/news/local/texas-bill-removing-educator-protections-heads-to-governors-desk
Audio from body cameras at the UT Austin pro-Palestinian protest crackdown shows that some of the officers deployed to that action were questioning its legality: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/texas-students-arrested-pro-palestine-protest-sue-abbott-1235332777/
The Texas Democratic Party is set to vote on a resolution censuing Laredo Congressman Henry Cuellar: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/06/henry-cuellar-texas-democratic-party-condemnation/
We look forward to celebrating our 15th anniversary this summer! Join us for a celebratory gathering in Dallas on Monday June 9: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Progressives continue savoring wins in the May municipal elections across the state, while one major piece of business remains unfinished - the San Antonio mayoral race: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/05/texas-school-board-races/
...What an interesting moment to visit San Antonio! Hope to see y'all at our Party For Progress tonight: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
...Our guest tonight is outgoing Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who has plans (for now) to return to teaching in Trinity University's communications department: https://www.tpr.org/education/2025-05-05/san-antonio-mayor-ron-nirenberg-joins-trinity-university-in-august-as-communications-professor#Echobox=1746482110-2
House Bill 2 - funding for public schools, and the second of the "Texas Two Step" of legislation supposedly paired with private school vouchers - continues to languish in a Senate committee after 13 days: https://www.lonestarleft.com/p/this-is-how-you-kill-a-public-school
...Democratic House Minority Leader Gene Wu highlights a major imbalance between bills passed by the House and those by the Senate, including the stonewalling on HB 2: https://x.com/scottbraddock/status/1919438003711234249?t=aJM-kp2u8-XcYudoyxoMdA&s=03
...The Texas chapter of the American Federation of Teachers worries that the Senate is turning away from "the pressing needs of the 5.4 million students in Texas public schools": https://www.texasaft.org/features/texas-senate-stalls-on-public-school-funding-while-fast-tracking-vouchers/
Elon Musk is in a battle with his neighbors in West Lake Hills, who have complaints about construction he's done without permits, constant traffic of Teslas, and heavily armed security guards: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/05/technology/elon-musk-texas-neighbors.html
We look forward to celebrating our 15th anniversary this summer! Join us for a celebratory gathering in Dallas on Monday June 9: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Democrats and progressive candidates won widespread victories across Texas, seen by some as a backlash against MAGA extremism: https://www.lonestarleft.com/p/magas-very-bad-night-in-texas
Tarrant County saw a complete shutout of county GOP and Patriot Mobile-backed candidates: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/tarrant-county/gop-endorsed-candidates-lose-ground-tarrant-county-texas-nonpartisan-elections/287-818039b4-cec6-460c-8259-774a9895aa46
MAGA Grapevine-Colleyville ISD board member Tammy Nakamura was ousted by Matt Foust: https://communityimpact.com/dallas-fort-worth/grapevine-colleyville-southlake/election/2025/05/03/may-3-election-foust-ousts-nakamura-for-grapevine-colleyville-isd-place-3-shope-wins-grapevine-city-council-place-4/
MAGA wannabe Julie Short fell...short of her goal of unseating Mansfield mayor Michael Evans: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/elections/2025/05/03/incumbent-michael-evans-leading-race-for-mansfield-mayor/
As expected, the San Antonio mayoral race ends up in a runoff between Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones and Republican Rolando Pablos: https://www.axios.com/local/san-antonio/2025/05/04/san-antonio-mayor-election-results-live
Longtime Katy educator James Cross ousted Katy ISD board president, book-banner and trans-outer Victor Perez: https://coveringkaty.com/news/katy/katy-isd-early-vote-results/
The Lake Travis ISD board adds 2 Democrats, making a total of 4 for the first time in a quarter-century: https://communityimpact.com/austin/lake-travis-westlake/election/2025/05/03/unofficial-polling-data-shows-archer-bove-woodcock-win-ltisd-board-election/
Richardson mayor Bob Dubey was unseated by Democratic challenger Amir Omar: https://www.fox4news.com/news/amir-omar-defeats-incumbent-bob-dubey-become-mayor-richardson
We're proud to welcome Mayor Ron Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio tomorrow night, on Tuesday May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - tickets are here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
We look forward to celebrating our 15th anniversary this summer! Join us for a celebratory gathering in Dallas on Monday June 9: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Reviving a program that was discontinued under the Obama Administration due to widespread abuse including racial profiling, the Trump administration has begun entering into agreements with local law enforcement agencies that essentially convert their officers into ICE agents, tasked with seeking out and arresting people whom they suspect are undocumented. More and more Texas police and sheriff's departments are signing up to work for ICE - which sidetracks time normally spent keeping their communities safe - on YOUR taxpayer dime. Investigative reporter Francesca D'Annunzio's excellent work on this story for the Texas Observer prompted us to invite her to join us for the first time.
Read "Texas Police Are Slowly Joining What Could Be A Giant ICE Army": https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-police-287g-ice-army/?goal=0_975e2d1fa1-6ccb7927f5-34916602&mc_cid=6ccb7927f5&mc_eid=0c4d5631c2
Learn more about Francesca D'Annunzio at https://www.texasobserver.org/author/francesca-dannunzio/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Our weekly venting session features Digital Director Sam Gonzalez, Advocacy Manager Reagan Stone, Advocacy and Development Coordinator Tatum Owens, and Digital Associate Haley Smith - we figure you're probably pissed about the same stuff we are, so we now include you in our weekly airing of the grievances...enjoy and happy weekend!
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Governor Abbott is set to sign private school vouchers into law this weekend - how did we get here? https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/02/texas-school-vouchers-greg-abbott/
...Meanwhile, HB 2 - the bill Republicans have called an "historic" increase in public school funding - appears to be languishing in committee: https://x.com/scottbraddock/status/1917740286148764002?t=kD7Hd9E4z2-JDF8SuEVz9A&s=03
Texas Republicans have apparently placed higher priority on other items, like banning Texans under 18 from owning social media accounts - which carries privacy implications for ALL Texans: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/politics/texas-legislature/texas-house-bill-banning-texans-under-18-social-media-accounts/269-fffe4db5-4e63-4fa3-b84a-f0efcd7f2d18
...And, even in the midst of an historic measles outbreak, legislation that will make it easier for Texans to opt themselves and their children out of vaccinations: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/01/texas-vaccine-exemption-form/
In a decision with national implications, a federal judge in South Texas - a Trump appointee - has ruled permanently that Donald Trump's invoking of the 18th century Alien Enemies Act is illegal, as it is not applicable during peacetime: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/01/us/texas-judge-trump-alien-enemies-act.html
Don't forget to VOTE on Saturday May 3! See your local county website for a sample ballot to study beforehand, and get your questions about voting answered at GoVoteTexas.org.
Progress Texas is proud to join several of our esteemed advocacy allies in supporting the Barbara Jordan Voting Rights Act: https://progresstexas.org/release-voting-rights-advocates-cheer-barbara-jordan-texas-voting-rights-act
We're proud to welcome Mayor Ron Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - tickets are here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Governor Greg Abbott is threatening to pull state funding from the city of San Marcos in retaliation for a largely symbolic Gaza ceasefire resolution placed on its city council's agenda: https://www.kut.org/politics/2025-04-30/san-marcos-tx-city-council-resolution-ceasefire-gaza-genocide-israel-governor-greg-abbott-funding-antisemitism
...Meanwhile, Abbott and UT Austin Jay Hartzell have been sued by a group of UT students who contend that their First Amendment rights were violated in the crackdown on pro-Palestinian protests on UT's campus last August: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/students-sue-texas-university-governor-over-gaza-protest-arrests-2025-05-01/
Smithville Republican State Rep. Stan Gerdes' anti-"furries" bill was ridiculed Democrats when it was heard earlier this week, but both Governor Abbott and House Speaker Dustin Burrows have endorsed it: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/furries-bill-greg-abbott-20294538.php
May Day rallies and protests are happening across Texas today - we remind you to keep things safe and legal. May Day Fort Worth: https://www.mobilize.us/mayday/event/775678/
May Day San Antonio: https://deceleration.news/event/may-day-caravan-san-antonio/
May Day Houston: https://www.mobilize.us/50501houston/event/782048/
May Day Austin: https://www.mobilize.us/publiccitizeninitiative/event/777726/
Don't forget to VOTE on Saturday May 3! See your local county website for a sample ballot to study beforehand, and get your questions about voting answered at GoVoteTexas.org.
Progress Texas is proud to join several of our esteemed advocacy allies in supporting the Barbara Jordan Voting Rights Act: https://progresstexas.org/release-voting-rights-advocates-cheer-barbara-jordan-texas-voting-rights-act
We're proud to welcome Mayor Ron Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - tickets are here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
SB-31, the abortion clarification bill, unanimously passes the Texas Senate: https://apnews.com/article/texas-abortion-ban-medical-exceptions-b54173653ce04a7ba434dae899624374
...Meanwhile, SB-2880, a bill that will crack down on abortion medication and does not include language declaring neutrality on old abortion laws still on the books in Texas - the feared "Trojan Horse" - passes on party lines and is headed for the House: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/29/texas-senate-abortion-pill-bill/
Trump U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited Texas this week, where he continued to downplay and lie about the ongoing measles outbreak: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/29/texas-measles-robert-kennedy-autism/?_bhlid=311b7e593c5d168c91bc6b330fccaf85ca94026d
...RFK claims the spread is slowing, but it is clearly not: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/29/texas-measles-cases
...RFK also dodged a question about whether the Trump regime would enforce a Biden directive for cities to remove PFAS "forever chemicals" from their drinking water supplies: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/investigates/robert-f-kennedy-jr-raises-doubts-over-pfas-forever-chemicals-in-north-texas/287-84c87030-5cc4-47de-af2b-83141d2b8276
Experts have strong doubts about data released about Texas hospital expenditures related to undocumented people, but that didn't stop Fox News from reporting it as fact: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/25/texas-hospitals-undocumented-immigrants-cost/
May Day rallies and protests are happening across Texas on Thursday May 1 - we remind you to keep things safe and legal. May Day Fort Worth: https://www.mobilize.us/mayday/event/775678/
May Day San Antonio: https://deceleration.news/event/may-day-caravan-san-antonio/
May Day Houston: https://www.mobilize.us/50501houston/event/782048/
May Day Austin: https://www.mobilize.us/publiccitizeninitiative/event/777726/
Early voting ends - don't forget to VOTE on Saturday May 3! See your local county website for a sample ballot to study beforehand, and get your questions about voting answered at GoVoteTexas.org.
Progress Texas is proud to join several of our esteemed advocacy allies in supporting the Barbara Jordan Voting Rights Act: https://progresstexas.org/release-voting-rights-advocates-cheer-barbara-jordan-texas-voting-rights-act
We're proud to welcome Mayor Ron Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - tickets are here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Aside from the daily drama at the Capitol, the race to succeed Ron Nirenberg as the next mayor of San Antonio is one of the top political stories in Texas, as the leadership of the Lone Star State's second-biggest city for next four years hangs in the balance.
Attorney and San Antonio City Council Member Melissa Cabello Havrda has thrown her hat into the ring. Now in her third Council term, she has chaired San Antonio's Public Safety and Municipal Courts Advisory Committees and is the current Vice Chair of the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. Cabello Havrda has been recognized for her socially progressive values, which in combination with pro-business and law enforcement stances, have contributed to her consistent re-election in the Alamo City's politically diverse District 6.
Learn more about Melissa Cabello Havrda at https://melissaforsa.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how to help support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
The "list of 50" Democrats dug in to oppose Republican legislation in response to the forcing through of private school vouchers fell apart yesterday, as at least 8 Dems voted in favor of GOP items: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/25/republicans-texas-house-calendar-democrats/
The "Uvalde Strong Act" - passed by the House yesterday to establish uniform and coordinated school shooter response protocols for law enforcement and school districts - does nothing to address the continued proliferation of guns in Texas: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/uvalde-strong-act-passes-texas-house-requires-statewide-active-shooter-protocol/
As May Day rallies and protests approach on Thursday, two arrests at a Dallas protest on Sunday remind us of the importance of keeping things safe and legal: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2025/04/28/2-arrested-in-connection-with-may-day-protest-on-sunday/
May Day Fort Worth: https://www.mobilize.us/mayday/event/775678/
May Day San Antonio: https://deceleration.news/event/may-day-caravan-san-antonio/
May Day Houston: https://www.mobilize.us/50501houston/event/782048/
May Day Austin: https://www.mobilize.us/publiccitizeninitiative/event/777726/
TODAY is the last day of early voting in the May 3 election - see your local county website for a sample ballot to study beforehand, and get your questions about voting answered at GoVoteTexas.org.
Progress Texas is proud to join several of our esteemed advocacy allies in supporting the Barbara Jordan Voting Rights Act: https://progresstexas.org/release-voting-rights-advocates-cheer-barbara-jordan-texas-voting-rights-act
We're proud to welcome Mayor Ron Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - tickets are here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
The idea of "due process" as a privilege or an option, given to some but denied others, has become a cornerstone of the policies of the second Donald Trump administration - and the right-wing disinformation machine appears all too willing to go along. What is due process, and what risks do each of us assume for ourselves in standing by as it's taken away from others, for any reason? We're fortunate to have two respected North Texas attorneys, Louis Bedford and Jason Smith, on the Progress Institute board, and are proud to share with you their perspectives and warnings about the recent attempts by MAGA to erode this fundamental aspect of American freedom and justice, and why it's imperative that ALL Americans fight back.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can help support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Watch for a deep dive on Donald Trump's attack on due process here later today, even as suspicions of the deportation of a young U.S. citizen arise: https://www.npr.org/2025/04/26/nx-s1-5378077/honduras-deported-girl-citizen
...While a growing number of Texas law enforcement agencies sign force multiplier agreements with ICE: https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-police-287g-ice-army/
...While Texas GOP lawmakers are set to approve legislation limiting the prosecution of Texas police officers for using excessive force: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/28/texas-police-deadly-conduct-exempt/?_bhlid=55d8f14f79254434d538c240d49bed84ac77a9d5
Beto O'Rourke makes news for simply stopping short of saying he won't run in the 2026 election cycle: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/will-beto-orourke-run-again-heres-what-he-said-at-town-hall-in-north-texas/287-1dee1fbd-4afb-4b05-95b5-6f3118e042d8
Early voting is underway in the May 3 election - see your local county website for a sample ballot to study beforehand, and get your questions about voting answered at GoVoteTexas.org.
Progress Texas is proud to join several of our esteemed advocacy allies in supporting the Barbara Jordan Voting Rights Act: https://progresstexas.org/release-voting-rights-advocates-cheer-barbara-jordan-texas-voting-rights-act
We're proud to welcome Mayor Ron Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - tickets are here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
In Progress is out weekly venting session, in which we unload a bit on the issues we've been tackling lately - at PT we find group therapy intellectually stimulating, occasionally cathartic, and always fun - so we're letting YOU join in. We're always all ears for your input at ProgressTexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Rising demand and dwindling supplies of water in Texas are placing major pressure on the business-friendly and environmentally-indifferent Texas GOP: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/the-impossibly-expensive-plan-to-save-texass-water-supply-texas-monthly/
Trump crazy is beginning to wear on his MAGA faithful - will they be able to find common cause with progressives to fix the problem? https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/trump-uncertainty-texas-layoffs-20290420.php
As he backs away from the DOGE chainsaw - with which he's destroyed his own reputation and that of Tesla - look for Elon Musk to spend more time in Texas on his still-rapidly-growing interests here: https://www.businessinsider.com/satellite-photos-show-elon-musk-growing-texas-empire-spacex-tesla-2025-4
The Texas Senate has passed a bill that will prevent juries considering injury claims related to truck crashes from hearing important information about the truck driver - a leg up for businesses looking to avoid paying for those claims: https://news4sanantonio.com/news/local/critics-argue-texas-bill-could-reduce-trucking-accountability-and-road-safety-lawsuit-senate-big-rigs-truck-drivers-cdl
...The Senate also has passed a bill that will require that Texas state government officially recognize the laughable change of name to the "Gulf Of America": https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/24/texas-gulf-of-america-name-change/
Early voting is underway in the May 3 election - see your local county website for a sample ballot to study beforehand, and get your questions about voting answered at GoVoteTexas.org.
Progress Texas is proud to join several of our esteemed advocacy allies in supporting the Barbara Jordan Voting Rights Act: https://progresstexas.org/release-voting-rights-advocates-cheer-barbara-jordan-texas-voting-rights-act
We're proud to welcome Mayor Ron Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - tickets are here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
The future of transportation infrastructure in Texas faces challenges both from our historic past - now starting a fourth decade under Republican control - and the uphill battles presented by the present day under Donald Trump and Governor Abbott's dubious priorities. We're proud to welcome a long-overdue visit with State Rep. John Bucy of Austin, and UT professor Miriam Schoenfield with the Texas Streets Coalition and Rethink 35, a group dedicated to managing and mitigating the adverse impacts of major highways on urban centers, in particular IH-35 in Austin.
Learn more about Rep. John Bucy at https://bucyfortexas.com/.
Learn more about the Texas Streets Coalition at https://texasstreetscoalition.org/, and Rethink 35 at https://rethink35.org/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
What appears to be a win for Texas Republicans in their push for unpopular private school vouchers appears likely to be a burden in the 2026 mid-term elections: https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2025-04-25/the-vouchers-battle-is-decided-but-what-about-the-future-of-texas-politics/
...Add to the draining of funds to subsize private school families, a likely dwindling of federal school funding in Trump's "DOGE" era: https://www.keranews.org/education/2025-04-24/department-of-education-closure-texas-schools-impact
...Speaking of "DOGE", we now have our own version in Texas as Governor Abbott signs his first bill of the 89th Lege into law: https://www.kxii.com/2025/04/24/texas-governor-greg-abbott-signs-bill-creates-texas-doge/
The Texas Senate passed a bill that would forbid local Texas cities from putting controlled substance decriminalization bills up for public vote - with the help of three Democrats: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/texas-senate-passes-bill-to-ban-cities-from-putting-marijuana-decriminalization-initiatives-on-local-ballots/
Taking school library book bans to a frightening new level, new legislation seeks to police "obscene" content at retail bookstores as well: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/texas-bookstores-obscene-books-20290932.php
Progress Texas Advocacy Manager Reagan Stone is moderating a panel this afternoon at the EarthX2025 conference in Dallas: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1ENq1kXGmg/
Early voting is underway in the May 3 election - see your local county website for a sample ballot to study beforehand, and get your questions about voting answered at GoVoteTexas.org.
Progress Texas is proud to join several of our esteemed advocacy allies in supporting the Barbara Jordan Voting Rights Act: https://progresstexas.org/release-voting-rights-advocates-cheer-barbara-jordan-texas-voting-rights-act
We're proud to welcome Mayor Ron Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - tickets are here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
We've published select episodes from other podcasts on the Progress Texas feed before, but we believe this is the first time we've run a radio show! Galveston attorney, former mayor and 2022 candidate for Texas Attorney General Joe Jaworski hosts "Midterms", a half-hour talk show on the upcoming 2026 elections, on the legendary KPFT-FM in Houston every Tuesday morning. This week, his guest was Kendall Scudder, the newly-elected Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party.
Learn more about KPFT and Joe's show at https://kpft.org/schedule-hd1/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can help support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Austin State Rep. Gina Hinojosa from the intro: https://x.com/GinaForAustin/status/1913646263075062273?t=5d0u-Di48t87m0NE8l1aTA&s=03
Will that reported threat by Texas House Democrats to undermine all of the Republican majority's constitutional amendments for the rest of the session for refusing to let the voters decide on private school vouchers materialize? House Speaker Dustin Burrows may have blinked yesterday: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/texas-speaker-pulls-constitutional-amendments-after-reported-democratic-threat/
SB 31 - the abortion clarification bill - has passed out of a Senate committee after undergoing amendments to address concerns about its potential to revive harsh, ancient abortion laws and to criminalize people seeking abortions for themselves: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/22/texas-abortion-bill-clarification/
Houston U.S. Congressman Al Green was the target of racist commentary on a Christian podcast this week by Tennessee Republican Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/diana-harshbarger-al-green-racism-b2737024.html
Elon Musk, weary of criticism for his assault on American governmental institutions, says he's stepping away from DOGE next month to refocus on Tesla - which has seen a 71%, $2 billion drop in revenue over the last year: https://www.axios.com/2025/04/22/elon-musk-doge-tesla-earnings-call
Early voting starts today in the May 3 election - see your local county website for a sample ballot to study beforehand, and get your questions about voting answered at GoVoteTexas.org.
Progress Texas is proud to join several of our esteemed advocacy allies in supporting the Barbara Jordan Voting Rights Act: https://progresstexas.org/release-voting-rights-advocates-cheer-barbara-jordan-texas-voting-rights-act
We're proud to welcome Mayor Ron Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - tickets are here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Early voting starts today in the May 3 election - see your local county website for a sample ballot to study beforehand, and get your questions about voting answered at GoVoteTexas.org.
...Two Republican bills on their way through the Legislature this week, similar to the federal SAVE Act, will make voter registration harder for lower-income Texans and those who have changed their names: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/01/texas-proof-of-citizenship-voting-senate-bill-16/
Texas lawmakers are considering legislation that would exempt transactions on the new Texas Securities Exchange from taxes - great news for majority owner and notorious right-wing billionaire Kelcy Warren: https://www.dmagazine.com/business-economy/2025/04/kelcy-warren-revealed-as-majority-owner-of-texas-stock-exchange/
Ken Paxton appears to have violated Texas ethics laws by including images of Collin County law enforcement officers in his first ads from his primary challenge to Senator John Cornyn: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/congressional/3384518/ken-paxton-texas-ethics-laws-senate-campaign-launch/
Brady House Rep. Wes Virdell deletes a tweet - too slowly, however - in which he disparages his own consitutents as they complain about his votes on public schools last week: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/texas-school-vouchers-virdell-20286629.php
Our condolences and best wishes to Denton County Commissioner Bobbie Mitchell, who was badly injured in a stabbing attack that her husband Fred did not survive on Monday morning: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/lewisville-stabbing-bobbie-mitchell-grandson-arrested/
Progress Texas is proud to join several of our esteemed advocacy allies in supporting the Barbara Jordan Voting Rights Act: https://progresstexas.org/release-voting-rights-advocates-cheer-barbara-jordan-texas-voting-rights-act
We're proud to welcome Mayor Ron Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - tickets are here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A weekend SCOTUS ruling has stopped the Trump regime from deporting a group of ICE detainees being held north of Abilene to the notorious CECOT prison in El Salvador: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-temporarily-blocks-new-deportations-under-alien-enemies-act/
Public skepticism, perhaps a bit too late, is growing in response to Governor Greg Abbott's ramming through of private school vouchers without a public vote: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/21/texas-school-vouchers-reactions/
A right-wing protest, intended to inflame racial divisions by exploiting the April 2 stabbing incident in Frisco, was a complete and totally lame flop: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/frisco-protest-about-deadly-track-meet-stabbing-ends-with-two-arrests/3821017/
...The father of the Frisco teen who lost his life in the April 2 stabbing, Jeff Metcalf, has condemned the use of his son's story and image in the production of racist disinformation: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2025/04/19/protect-white-americans-protest-frisco/
Lubbock - which most of us consider a "small" city, but actually is the home of about a quarter-million people - has officially been designated as part of the measles outbreak zone: https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/news/local/2025/04/21/lubbock-health-officials-urge-mmr-vaccination-recommendation-amid-texas-measles-outbreak/83159130007/
San Marcos has been stopped - again - from enforcing the marijuana decriminalization ordinance it voted for in 2022 by 81% by a lawsuit from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/hays-county/san-marcos-marijuana-decriminalization-ruling/269-4c4f022c-676b-417f-9be4-aa8ba435ad51
Willie Nelson is calling on Texas farmers to organize against the Trump tariff war, and the slow-walking of emergency farm benefits, that are hurting their livelihoods: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/willie-nelsen-farmers-tariffs-20281319.php
Progress Texas is proud to join several of our esteemed advocacy allies in supporting the Barbara Jordan Voting Rights Act: https://progresstexas.org/release-voting-rights-advocates-cheer-barbara-jordan-texas-voting-rights-act
We're proud to welcome Mayor Ron Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - tickets are here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
In a world awash in passionate politics and widespread, nefarious disinformation, independent and ethically-sound journalism has never been more important, and has also never been under such threat. Countering disinformation is a major part of our mission at Progress Texas, and among the media sources in our state, we judge the Texas Tribune as one of the most impeccable, and source its high-quality and fast-breaking information on the regular. We're proud to welcome editor in chief Matthew Watkins and women's health reporter Eleanor Klibanoff for an inside look at the mechanics and the mission of the Texas Tribune, and a discussion of the vital role independent media plays in our turbulent current moment - and why those sources need your direct support, and deserve your direct defense.
Learn more about Eleanor and Matthew, and the rest of the Texas Tribune crew, at https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/.
And, hear both of them regularly on the Texas Tribune's weekly TribCast at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/texas-tribune-tribcast/id338118901.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can help support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Governor Abbott relied on intimidation of wavering State House Republicans to keep his spineless minions from putting private school vouchers to a public vote: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/17/greg-abbott-school-vouchers-republicans-hardball/
...Abbott also called in Donald Trump to keep the troops in line: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/education/2025/04/18/texas-house-approves-school-vouchers-secures-greg-abbott-priority-bill/83140873007/
...The example of Arizona - a still-ballooning budget disaster due to its voucher program - will likely be surpassed by Texas, as our public schools are already in a dire state of neglect: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/advocates-from-other-school-choice-states-paint-grim-future-for-texas
Texas Republican lawmakers, basking in the glow of their voucher scam win, had time to try to sully a memorial for Cecile Richards yesterday - but instead, confirmed her progressive legacy: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/17/texas-house-cecile-richards-republicans-planned-parenthood/
Fired up? Blow off some of that frustration and make new friends at one of dozens of 50501 protests happening across Texas on Saturday 4/19: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BgrGQrT5F/
Progress Texas is proud to join several of our esteemed advocacy allies in supporting the Barbara Jordan Voting Rights Act: https://progresstexas.org/release-voting-rights-advocates-cheer-barbara-jordan-texas-voting-rights-act
We're proud to welcome Mayor Ron Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - tickets are here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Welcome to the first edition of In Progress, our new weekly group session in which the Progress Texas staff gathers to discuss, process and attempt to make sense of the latest developments in the crazy world of Texas politics.
And, what a way to start. After 30 years of trying - against the members of their own party, and certainly in spite of public opinion - the Republican dream of taxpayer-funded kickbacks to wealthy Texas families to subsidize their private schools is on the edge of becoming reality. How have our public schools gone from being seen as the backbone of many Texas communities, to being a scrap heap to be dismantled and sold off? What's the next move for Texas Democrats? And, how should Texas voters respond? The PT staff gathers to try our best to make sense of a tragically nonsensical situation.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
After a 30-year struggle, Governor Greg Abbott has all but accomplished the goal of his billionaire benefactors as Texas House Republicans pass Senate Bill 2, which allocates $1 billion (for starters) of your tax dollars to subsidize private school tuition: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/17/texas-house-school-vouchers-public-education-funding/
...Will the Democratic minority follow through with their threat to tank state constitutional amendments? We're interested in seeing the declaration: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/15/texas-legislature-democrats-school-vouchers-constitutional-amendments/
Progress Texas is proud to join several of our esteemed advocacy allies in supporting the Barbara Jordan Voting Rights Act: https://progresstexas.org/release-voting-rights-advocates-cheer-barbara-jordan-texas-voting-rights-act
We're proud to welcome Mayor Ron Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
The position of precinct chair is generally the party job closest to the actual action: meeting, motivating, and mobilizing the voters themselves, who happen to be your neighbors and friends! If you're a regular Progress Texas listener, you already know most of what you need to know to effectively fill this position. Many districts, in just about every corner of Texas, have vacancies in this vital grassroots role - leaving those voters without anyone to personally guide and inspire them. If you're fired up, and looking to step up and really make a difference, this is the perfect opportunity at a crucial political moment.
Learn more about becoming a precinct chair for the Texas Democratic Party at https://www.traviscountydemocrats.org/precinctchair.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how to support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
After 30 years of trying, Texas Republicans are confident they can push private school vouchers on an unwilling Texas today: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/15/texas-house-vouchers-public-school-funding-vote/?_bhlid=787b18ce3a9535dfb634483e2ca01fd2c02ecc6e
...But the Democratic minority has a plan to send that issue to the voters, where it's likely to die: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/15/texas-legislature-democrats-school-vouchers-constitutional-amendments/
The Texas Senate has passed SB 37, which would give Republican officeholders control over the curriculum taught about history, inequality and race at Texas colleges: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/texas-senate-approves-bill-that-could-reshape-how-history-race-are-taught-in-universities
Republicans are lining up to unseat Laredo Congressman Henry Cuellar, who despite his lack of loyalty, Democrats desperately need to keep in place: https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/mayra-flores-henry-cuellar-20277181.php
...MAGA types are also lining up for a chance to out-Paxton Ken Paxton at Attorney General: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2025/04/16/ken-paxton-senate-texas-attorney-general-2026-election-race/83049997007/
A Houston law firm is fighting back against a presidential executive order in a battle that could set precedent for the risks undertaken by attorneys in standing up to the Trump regime: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/2025/04/14/518705/houston-based-law-firm-files-lawsuit-against-trump-administration-following-executive-order/
Progress Texas is proud to join several of our esteemed advocacy allies in supporting the Barbara Jordan Voting Rights Act: https://progresstexas.org/release-voting-rights-advocates-cheer-barbara-jordan-texas-voting-rights-act
We're proud to welcome Mayor Ron Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A stunning and surreal scene at the White House yesterday saw Donald Trump and El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, in defiance of U.S. courts, refuse to return a wrongly-deported Maryland man - and muse on sending American citizens away next: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzgQT__Az4o
Reactions from Texas lawmakers including Austin Congressman Greg Casar: https://x.com/RepCasar/status/1911871636292202834?t=IfJmo_wHPrrvhoD3kFMWDw&s=03
...El Paso Congresswoman Veronica Escobar: https://x.com/RepEscobar/status/1911828673755488484?t=U3Ac1nkEx-ihBLL6cWVBrA&s=03
...and Houston Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia: https://x.com/RepSylviaGarcia/status/1911922043081142496?t=8t-OJfw1dv_ISQukmLYO7w&s=03
Could private school vouchers, after three decades of trying, finally be made reality by Texas Republicans? We'll likely find out this week: https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/texas-house-taking-up-education-savings-account-bill-senate-school-vouchers-legislature/
...The Texas Freedom Network requests your attendance at the Capitol on Wednesday morning: https://act.tfn.org/a/vouchervote
Texas Republicans, amidst ongoing outcry from gun safety advocates to raise age limits for gun ownership, are seeking to lower them instead: https://www.kut.org/2025-04-15/texas-statehouse-senate-loosen-firearm-restrictions
...Uvalde moms testified against the lowering of handgun age restrictions from 21 to 18 yesterday: https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2025/04/15/mothers-of-uvalde-victims-argue-against-texas-bill-that-would-allow-18-year-olds-to-carry-handguns/
Progress Texas is proud to join several of our esteemed advocacy allies in supporting the Barbara Jordan Voting Rights Act: https://progresstexas.org/release-voting-rights-advocates-cheer-barbara-jordan-texas-voting-rights-act
We're proud to welcome Mayor Ron Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
The Barbara Jordan Texas Voting Rights Act, or TXVRA (which includes HB 5258 and HB 2082) will protect Texas voters from voting discrimination, provide powerful tools to combat voter intimidation, expand language access, and more — to ensure free and fair elections for every Texas voter.
We reviewed with Counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Christina M. Das, the Texas Civil Rights Project’s Voting Rights Policy Attorney, Veronikah Warms, and Policy Director for Common Cause Texas, Emily Eby French, J.D. on why Texas can and should lead the nation in protecting the right to vote and promoting inclusive democracy by adopting the Texas VRA.
Learn more about the Barbara Jordan Voting Rights Act at https://www.naacpldf.org/case-issue/barbara-jordan-texas-voting-rights-act/.
Learn more about the Texas Civil Rights Project at https://www.txcivilrights.org/.
Learn more about Common Cause Texas at https://www.commoncause.org/texas/
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A floor vote is likely in the Texas House on Governor Abbott's bought-and-paid-for private school voucher scam on Wednesday: https://x.com/TFN/status/1910800951121785287
Of all the U.S. states, Texas stands to lose the most from the global economic disruption that Donald Trump's tariff playtime is causing: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/article/texas-free-trade-trump-tariffs-20265650.php
...Don't look to our Senators to reel Trump in on tariffs - with Paxton declaring against Cornyn, everybody involved there's looking to kiss the ring: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/11/senate-republicans-trump-primary-challenger-fears-033256
Democrats find themselves protecting the notoriously unreliable Henry Cuellar - "Trump's Favorite Democrat" - in their efforts to flip the U.S. House in 2026: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas-take/article/texas-progressives-henry-cuellar-20271545.php
A divisive bill designed to provide clarity for doctors in Texas on when they can use abortion procedures in patient care will not help those carrying unviable fetuses: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/11/texas-abortion-law-lethal-fetal-anomalies/
...Once that child is born in Texas, it's on its own: Texas is almost dead last in the U.S. for children's healthcare, beating out only Mississippi: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/texas-has-second-worth-healthcare-for-children-study-says-22078769
Progress Texas is proud to join several of our esteemed advocacy allies in supporting the Barbara Jordan Voting Rights Act: https://progresstexas.org/release-voting-rights-advocates-cheer-barbara-jordan-texas-voting-rights-act
We're proud to welcome Mayor Ron Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
As part of our ongoing series of profiles with our favorite lawmakers and activists, Advocacy Manager Reagan Stone enjoyed a sit-down with two terrific Texans at the Texas State Capitol: State Rep. Ron Reynolds has represented Missouri City and Fort Bend County in the legislature since 2010, and Dr. Cyrus Reed serves as Conservation Director for the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club.
Learn more about Rep. Reynolds at https://house.texas.gov/members/2040.
Learn more about the Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter and Dr. Reed at https://www.sierraclub.org/texas.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The U.S. Supreme Court has backed a lower court order for the Trump administration to "facilitate and effectuate the return" of wrongly-deported Salvadoran immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia - but stopped short of actually ordering that return: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/us/politics/supreme-court-trump-deported-migrant.html
...An Austin attorney who has represented Abrego Garcia in his efforts to remain in the U.S. weighs in: https://www.kxan.com/news/shocking-hear-from-the-austin-attorney-helping-represent-a-maryland-man-mistakenly-deported-to-el-salvador/
The quiet and frequently unexplained revocations of the visas of international students have continued, now affecting several Texas universities: https://www.keranews.org/texas-news/2025-04-10/visas-texas-students-revoked-protests-deportation
The SAVE Act, led by Central Texas MAGA Congressman Chip Roy, has passed the U.S. House - it adds unnecessary and potentially troublesome obstacles to voter registration, especially if you've ever had your name changed: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/10/chip-roy-texas-us-house-save-act-voting-name-change/
The Trump administration is using a 1944 water treaty with Mexico to pick new tariff and trade fights with them, accusing Mexico of "stealing water from Texas farmers": https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-threatens-sanctions-tariffs-mexico-over-water-treaty-dispute-2025-04-10/
The Texas House, after a 13-hour debate session, passed the $337 billion state budget early this morning: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/11/texas-house-budget-approval/
The Texas Progressive Caucus is providing a stream to partake in its first quarter meeting on Saturday 4/12 at noon - RSVP and more: https://www.texasprogressivecaucus.org/general_meeting_2025q1
On Monday, a bill that would require some Texas law enforcement officers to act as immigration agents will be discussed, and your presence to oppose it would be helpful. See their remote action guide and testimony toolkit.
Progress Texas is proud to join several of our esteemed advocacy allies in supporting the Barbara Jordan Voting Rights Act: https://progresstexas.org/release-voting-rights-advocates-cheer-barbara-jordan-texas-voting-rights-act
We're proud to welcome Mayor Ron Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A Texas-based judge has blocked the Trump administration from continuing to deport migrants without hearing under the Alien Enemies Act, for now: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/federal-judges-limit-trump-alien-enemies-act-deportations-rcna200418
Budget Day today at the Capitol is likely to extend overnight - the Texas Tribune has live coverage: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/10/texas-house-budget-day/
Midlothian Republican Rep. and "stunt queen" Brian Harrison's move to unseat Speaker Dustin Burrows yesterday went poorly, much to the entertainment of the chamber (video): https://www.kvue.com/video/news/politics/texas-legislature/texas-house-rejects-speaker-dustin-burrows-removal/269-6da63357-07b8-4fbd-9325-15d496433931
...One side effect, Burrows is now more free to cooperate with Lt. Governor Dan Patrick: https://quorumreport.com/quorum_report_daily_buzz_2025/embarrassing_antics_by_harrison_unite_the_texas_ho_buzziid32543.html
The Texas Senate is set to consider SB-37, which would allow lawmakers to interfere in the way courses on history, race and inequality will be taught at our state colleges: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/10/texas-senate-bill-37-governing-boards-faculty-senates/
Narratives are shaping up around the just-launched Cornyn v Paxton showdown, one being "con man vs anti-Trump": https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/con-man-vs-anti-trump-years-republican-fighting-fuel-nasty-senate-prim-rcna200479
...Another, a proxy war set in Texas for the GOP at large with the old business guard against the MAGA grassroots rabble: https://www.axios.com/2025/04/10/maga-texas-senate-primary-cornyn-paxton
...Another, that Ken Paxton's road to this race was paved with his own failures: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/ken-paxton-challenging-senator-john-cornyn/
A Hood County Republican is arrested for fraudulently filing to run for Granbury's City Council - in her red "Ban Democrat Chairs" t-shirt: https://www.latintimes.com/republican-woman-arrested-election-fraud-texas-while-wearing-ban-democrat-chairs-shirt-580319
...Tulsi Gabbard may be in similar trouble: https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/09/politics/tulsi-gabbard-texas-hawaii-voting-residency-invs/index.html
Progress Texas is proud to join several of our esteemed advocacy allies in supporting the Barbara Jordan Voting Rights Act: https://progresstexas.org/release-voting-rights-advocates-cheer-barbara-jordan-texas-voting-rights-act
We're proud to welcome Mayor Ron Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A bloody and expensive primary battle between Ken Paxton and Senator John Cornyn could present an opportunity for Texas Democrats: https://apnews.com/article/ken-paxton-texas-senate-john-cornyn-60c34efe45143422c5f9ff84d27c1be1
With Texas as the main staging ground for ICE deporatations, Donald Trump has been casually toying with the idea of also deporting American citizens: https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/trump-leavitt-deporting-us-citizens-el-salvador-sotomayor-rcna200299
...Both Texas A&M and UT Austin report enrolled international students whose visas and legal statuses have been quietly revoked, possibly relating to their participation in pro-Palestinian protests: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/student-visas-texas-am-ut-austin-20264673.php
The Texas House, in a rare unanimous vote, passes a law that undoes NDA agreements in cases of sexual abuse and trafficking - a bill that, supposedly, big city church leaders tried to undermine behind the scenes: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-house-unanimously-passes-bill-protecting-child-sexual-abuse-survivors-nondisclosure-agreements-nda/287-19779b55-034c-4249-a2c5-eaa371f2baf5
With demand growing and Texas leading the nation in renewable energy, GOP lawmakers are filing bills designed to make new renewable development more difficult: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/08/renewable-energy-texas-new-regulations/
Following his visit to Texas - and counter to data and projections from Texas health officials - RFK Jr. has been tweeting falsely that the measles outbreak curve is flattening (it's not): https://abcnews.go.com/Health/rfk-jr-claims-curve-flattening-texas-measles-outbreak/story?id=120554374
Progress Texas is proud to join several of our esteemed advocacy allies in supporting the Barbara Jordan Voting Rights Act: https://progresstexas.org/release-voting-rights-advocates-cheer-barbara-jordan-texas-voting-rights-act
We're proud to welcome Mayor Ron Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
The Texas Legislative Progressive Caucus was established in 2021 by State Representative Ron Reynolds. This session, the growing 20 member bicameral caucus is shaping legislation by promoting working family policies. In this episode, we sit down with the caucus' first executive director Cody Meador to discuss their platform and legislation that moves Texas forward.
You can find more information on their work and the elected members at https://www.texaslpc.org.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Governor Abbott has called an election to replace Sylvester Turner in Houston's CD-18, but his delay will keep its 800,000 residents voiceless in D.C. for at least seven months: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/07/greg-abbott-special-election-sylvester-turner/
A SCOTUS decision allows the Trump regime to continue deporting migrants under an 18th century law - but the nine justices unanimously say they must be given due process before they can be removed: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-supreme-court-backs-trump-deportations-under-1798-law-2025-04-07/
Houston faith leaders have apparently been trying to kill a bill that would outlaw the use of NDA's to silence child victims of church sex abuse - it's being debated on the House floor today: https://quorumreport.com/quorum_report_daily_buzz_2025/some_texas_house_republicans_privately_concerned_f_buzziid32535.html
...The law was named for Trey Carlock, a Highland Park man who died by suicide in 2019 after suffering a decade of abuse in silence: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/politics/lone-star-politics/texas-bill-treys-law-ban-ndas-sexual-abuse-cases-advances-house/3796460/
...Meanwhile, new reporting on Texas' Child Protective Services finds that the deaths of children under that agency's supervision are frequently hidden from public view: https://www.tpr.org/government-politics/2025-04-07/texas-keeps-child-abuse-and-neglect-deaths-out-of-sight-bringing-light-proves-complex-and-costly
The Texas Department of Public Safety has called all of its remote workers back into the office - but they don't have enough parking, because they limited parking space at their new South Austin campus assuming that people would work remotely: https://www.kut.org/austin/2025-04-07/texas-department-of-transportation-austin-tx-return-to-office-policy-work-parking-spaces-garage
Progress Texas is proud to join several of our esteemed advocacy allies in supporting the Barbara Jordan Voting Rights Act: https://progresstexas.org/release-voting-rights-advocates-cheer-barbara-jordan-texas-voting-rights-act
We're proud to welcome Mayor Ron Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Financial markets are bracing for a possible "Black Monday" today as Donald Trump doubles down on the massive tariffs he announced last week: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/04/07/business/trump-tariffs-stock-market
...While Greg Abbott and John Cornyn are mum on Trump's disaster, Ted Cruz warns that the GOP could be in for a "bloodbath" in the 2026 mid-terms: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/05/ted-cruz-midterm-trump-tariffs-recession
...Very directly affecting the Texas economy, oil prices are at four-year lows, which could spell big trouble for the energy sector: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/06/business/energy-environment/oil-prices-trump-tariffs.html
...Those mid-terms appear likely to feature an inter-party brawl between Cornyn and Ken Paxton, which would be very expensive for Republicans and result in a battered and bruised opponent for the eventual Democratic nominee: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/05/ted-cruz-midterm-trump-tariffs-recession
A second young child has died of measles in West Texas, prompting a visit from RFK Jr., who has finally stated publicly that "the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine": https://www.reuters.com/world/us/kennedy-travel-texas-after-second-measles-related-death-axios-reports-2025-04-06/
Harris County chief elections officer Teneshia Hudspeth - herself placed in charge of Houston-area elections by Governor Abbott in 2023 - rejects the Governor's notion that her county is not prepared to hold a special election to replace the late Congressman Sylvester Turner: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/politics/texas-politics/gov-abbott-harris-county-rep-turner-special-election-delay/3809166/
Progress Texas is proud to join several of our esteemed advocacy allies in supporting the Barbara Jordan Voting Rights Act: https://progresstexas.org/release-voting-rights-advocates-cheer-barbara-jordan-texas-voting-rights-act
We're proud to welcome Mayor Ron Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
UPDATE: Governor Greg Abbott has called for an election, however, it will leave the residents of Congressional District 18 without representation in the meantime.
A truly alarming and shameful denial of the Constitutional and foundational right of federal representation of hundreds of thousands of Texans is happening as we speak, as Governor Greg Abbott has continued to delay a special election to fill the historically-significant U.S. House seat representing Congressional District 18 in Harris County, vacated due to the untimely passing of Congressman Sylvester Turner. In the last few hours, the Governor has finally broken his silence on the matter, but only to play the common Republican "voter fraud" card as an excuse for his delay - before the election is even called. We reached out to Houston State Representative and Texas House Minority Leader Gene Wu, and freshly-elected Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder to weigh in on this disgraceful and ongoing slight against a section of Texas' largest city, comprised mostly of people of color.
Learn more about Rep. Gene Wu at https://www.genefortexas.com/.
Learn more about Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder at https://www.kendallscudder.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Global economic shock is underway this morning as Donald Trump's foolish tariff plan becomes reality - and Texas will most certainly feel the impact: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/03/trump-tariffs-texas-revenue-growth/
The Texas House Committee on Public Education advanced HB-3 yesterday, which would establish a new private school voucher program in Texas, on a 9-6 party line vote: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/education/texas-voucher-bill-clears-first-test-in-texas-house/287-0b3bdb58-c2f8-4800-b8e0-849cc4e729e3
...A group of House Democrats have complained of yesterday's session's lack of a live stream, falling short of public transparency expectations: https://bsky.app/profile/anamariafortexas.com/post/3llx2xw3gok2o
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick notes that his "Steamroller Senate" is far outdoing the House on passing MAGA priority bills, and is applying pressure to House Speaker Dustin Burrows to pick up the pace: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/04/dan-patrick-urges-texas-house-to-start-passing-senate-priorities/82799939007/
Ken Paxton learns that the Joe Biden Justice Department, in the closing days of the Biden term, decided not to prosecute Paxton for corruption: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/03/ken-paxton-corruption-clear-senate-campaign/
...Paxton has announced an appeal of the court decision to block Texas A&M from banning drag shows on its campuses: https://www.kbtx.com/2025/04/04/texas-attorney-general-files-notice-appeal-federal-judges-decision-block-ams-drag-show-ban/
Governor Abbott, addressing UT Law's Federalist Society yesterday, admitted outright that Elon Musk moved his companies to Texas on Abbott's promise to clear legal barriers out of his way: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/03/greg-abbott-texas-courts-ut-jim-davis/
Governor Abbott has launched "a blitz of state agencies" against an Islamic community development near Dallas, apparently simply for being associated with Muslims: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/epic-city-greg-abbott-islamic-community-20255339.php
Progress Texas is proud to join several of our esteemed advocacy allies in supporting the Barbara Jordan Voting Rights Act: https://progresstexas.org/release-voting-rights-advocates-cheer-barbara-jordan-texas-voting-rights-act
Tomorrow's national Hands Off rally and action day features over 30 events right here in Texas - there's one within a short drive of wherever you are in the state: https://www.mobilize.us/handsoff/?country=US&state=TX
We're proud to welcome Mayor Ron Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
This Saturday, hundreds of local rallies, protests and demonstrations coordinated under the national effort known as Hands Off will take place in just about every part of all 50 states, including in at least 31 cities across Texas, ranging from our biggest, bluest metros to our small rural towns. The themes and motivations behind the people who have organized each event are as varied as the lived experiences in each of these communities, but they all have one thing in common: frustration, fear, and now resistance to the ongoing, wanton, kleptocratic dismantling of our country by Donald Trump and his cronies. In this pod, we talk to organizers in Dallas, Austin, and Wichita Falls about what folks in those places can expect on Saturday, and how each of those events came to be part of Hands Off.
Learn more about Hands Off and find an event near you this Saturday at https://handsoff2025.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Reaction to Trump's wide-ranging tariff announcement falls largely along party lines, with Democrats warning of a potential national recession: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/04/03/texas-lawmakers-in-washington-split-over-trump-tariffs-expected-to-impact-state/
...San Antonio, in particular, is vulnerable to the impacts of tariffs due to their heavy economic reliance on the aerospace, automotive and energy sectors: https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2025/04/03/texas-leaders-weigh-the-impact-of-us-president-donald-trumps-newly-announced-tariffs/
The Texas Legislative Progressive Caucus is speaking up against House Joint Resolution 4, which would ban taxes on securities market operators and transactions via a state constitutional amendment: https://legiscan.com/TX/text/HJR4/2025
That cancelled review session of the latest revisions to the Republican plans for private school vouchers is set to happen today: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/school-choice-is-back-in-session-in-texas-house-committee-tomorrow
U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is threatening a lawsuit against Governor Abbott if he continues delaying a special election to replace the late Houston Congressman Sylvester Turner: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/hakeem-jeffries-threatens-lawsuit-delayed-texas-special-election-rcna199362
This Saturday's Hands Off protest is likely to be the biggest such event since the beginning of Trump's second term: https://www.axios.com/2025/04/03/hands-off-protest-trump-musk-april-5
...The view from Houston: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/trending/article/houston-protest-hands-off-2025-20254521.php
...The view from Austin: https://www.austinchronicle.com/events/community/civic-events/hands-off-mass-mobilization-3251311/
We're proud to welcome Mayor Ron Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Elon Musk's image as a supervillian appears to have contributed to a Democratic win in a Wisconsin Supreme Court race yesterday: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/us/politics/wisconsin-supreme-court-crawford-schimel.html
...Musk's expensive failure is a "jolt of momentum for Democrats": https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/02/what-we-learned-from-the-first-big-test-of-the-trump-musk-era-00264812
Ted Cruz considered pulling a fire alarm in the Senate yesterday to stop Cory Booker's record-setting speech: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/cory-booker-filibuster-cruz-20253269.php
...Senator Booker, after "72 days in which Democrats have appeared lame and leaderless...stood up and did something": https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/02/senator-cory-booker-takes-a-stand-speech-donald-trump-25-hours
Concern persists that two bills at the Lege, designed to protect doctors from legal trouble over using abortion when medically necessary, might also expose pregnant Texans seeking abortions to charges of murder: https://www.chron.com/news/article/abortion-ban-texas-bill-20245956.php
The West Texas measles outbreak has spread to Erath and Brown Counties in central Texas and has hit a case count of 422: https://abc13.com/post/texas-measles-outbreak-grows-422-cases-spreading-erath-brown-counties-states-central-region/16116517/
...Meanwhile federal funding cuts have forced the cancellation of over 50 measles vaccination clinics in Dallas County: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/texas-measles-outbreak-dallas-vaccines-hhs-funding-cuts-rcna199144
Our condolences to our friends at the Texas Tribune, who have lost their founder John Thornton at 59: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/01/john-thornton-texas-tribune-founder/
We're proud to welcome Mayor Ron Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Acting Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee is threatening to sue Governor Greg Abbott if he continues to delay the replacement of the late Sylvester Turner in the U.S. House seat representing CD-18: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/menefee-special-election-20246324.php
...Abbott's delay is only one part of a broader undermining of Democratic representations being orchestrated by House Republicans: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/31/us/texas-house-seat.html
The House Public Education Committee is considering a $1 billion cap on any potential voucher program for private schools in Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/31/texas-school-voucher-funding/
A lawyer representing the 2019 El Paso shooter says he felt compelled by comments from Donald Trump to commit that horrible mass murder: https://elpasomatters.org/2025/03/30/patrick-crusius-donald-trump-aug-3-2019-walmart-mass-shooting/
Given the extensive, statewide, AI-driven surveillance apparatus that Texas DPS has assembled under the auspices of Operation Lone Star, it's pretty reasonable to assume that YOU are being watched: https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-dps-surveillance-arsenal-artificial-intelligence-lege/
We're proud to welcome Mayor Ron Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Texas Democratic Party has a new leader, as Kendall Scudder was elected its new Chairman this weekend by the State Democratic Executive Committee: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/03/29/texas-democrats-elect-dallas-kendall-scudder-as-new-state-chair-after-2024-losses/
Governor Greg Abbott is silent - and now missing important deadlines - on calling a special election to replace the late Sylvester Turner in the U.S. House: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/elections/2025/03/28/517153/clock-ticks-down-for-gov-abbott-to-call-special-election-for-late-sylvester-turners-congressional-seat/
...This leaves 800,000 Texans, mostly people of color, without their constitutionally-guaranteed representation in Congress: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/26/greg-abbott-sylverster-turner-democrat-special-election/
A Deer Park pastor has drawn scrutiny for condemning a Deer Park ISD superintendent candidate over her sexuality from his pulpit - video and a link to a resulting petition for a public apology in the link: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/education-news/2025/03/25/516870/deer-park-church-pastor-faces-backlash-after-attacking-sexuality-of-dpisd-superintendent-finalist/
...For your convenience, IRS 13909 is needed to file complaints about churches violating their religious non-profit status by going political: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f13909.pdf
The CDC, under the leadership of RFK Jr., has squelched an advisory that measles risk is higher nearby areas of low vaccination, such as the West Texas region where the current outbreak started: https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/31/health/cdc-measles-forecast-propublica/index.html
We're proud to welcome Mayor Ron Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Kendall Scudder was elected to succeed Gilberto Hinojosa as the first new Chair of the Texas Democratic Party since the latter's election in 2012 on Saturday, winning an outright majority in the first round of voting from the members of the State Democratic Executive Committee in Austin. This pod features our first talk with Scudder, just minutes after his election was confirmed, and takes from a handful of key players who were present at the event.
Coverage from the Texas Tribune: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/29/texas-democrats-party-chair/
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can help support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Concern about possible "Trojan horse" language in two bills ostensibly designed to provide clarity and legal protection to doctors who need to employ abortion procedures in caring for their patients continues: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/abortion-funds-bill-20243980.php
...All of which could be moot, as the additional limits and penalties that those opponents cite are largely proposed openly by another bill: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/27/texas-abortion-pill-ban-senate-2880/
...The abortion debate is moving to state vs. state as a New York official refuses to enforce orders against a New York doctor from Texas, citing that state's shield law: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/27/health/new-york-texas-abortion-shield-law.html
The Texas Democratic Party's governing board, the SDEC, will choose a new chair this weekend: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/28/texas-democrats-vote-new-chair/
...Progress Texas Executive Director Kathleen Thompson wonders whether the millions of dollars the TDP will spend in 2026 will "be invested into counties and down to the precinct level, or lit on fire with mainly major ad buys?”: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/03/27/texas-democrats-look-for-new-leader-to-give-party-focus-heading-into-midterm-elections/
...While you don't get to vote in this very important election, you have a representative on that committee, and you should let them know your preferences: https://progresstexas.org/blog/most-important-election-you-don%E2%80%99t-know-about
New polling shows a swing away from the hard right in Texas, little support for private school vouchers or banning THC products, and dropping popularity for MAGA figures including Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Governor Abbott, and especially Senator John Cornyn: https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/south-texas-el-paso/politics/2025/03/27/poll-reveals-shift-in-texas-politics--moderate-views-rise-in-popularity
We're proud to welcome Mayor Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Two bills are making their way through the Texas Legislature right now that are ostensibly designed to offer doctors legal protection against prosecution under our state's near-blanket ban on abortion, in cases where that procedure is medically necessary - the same clarification that was sought, unsuccessfully, in the Zurawski v Texas case. The bills, according to their Republican backers, have achieved unanimous support in both the House and Senate - but there is no shortage of opposition among abortion rights groups and advocates, some of whom are concerned that the language in the bills may allow for expansion of prosecution of people who seek abortions out of state, and that in their attempt at clarity, may actually introduce additional confusion for doctors and patients. We've invited Austin State Rep. Donna Howard, one of the House version's authors, to explain why she supports the bill, and also to address some of the specific concerns that have been brought against it.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texan John Ratcliffe is at the center of what's becoming known as "Signalgate" - and also "the dumbest fascist timeline ever": https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/signalgate-fallout-hegseth-gabbard/
Amid the West Texas measles outbreak, kids are now showing up with Vitamin A poisoning as their parents opt for "alternative" measles prevention over vaccines: https://futurism.com/neoscope/measles-patients-vitamin-overuse-rfk-jr
...While Elon Musk and DOGE yank funding that Lubbock's health department depends on to fight the outbreak: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/26/texas-measles-public-health-funding-cut/
Propublica's investigations into needless maternal deaths connected to Texas' abortion bans have been instrumental in new bills to clarify those policies for doctors (stay tuned for a talk with Austin State Rep. Donna Howard on that legislation): https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-gop-lawmakers-propose-amending-abortion-ban
Deer Park Republican Rep. Briscoe Cain's bill to convert the city of Austin into a state-controlled district was laughed out of the House Committee On State Affairs on a unanimous 11-0 rejection: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/politics/texas-legislature/texas-house-district-of-austin-laughed-down/269-0d1e48dd-ddba-43b1-90ec-4d7ce65f5d26
Colin Allred is expressing interest in running for Senate again, against John Cornyn next year - considering what happened last time, we think there are far more helpful options: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/colin-allred-senate-cornyn-20242509.php
Watch out for weirdoes around the UT Austin campus this weekend - the Natalist Conference, a gathering of enthusiasts of eugenics, genetic manipulation, race dominance theory and more starts tomorrow: https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2025-03-21/eugenics-controversy-looms-over-natal-conference-at-uts-atat-center/
Get tickets for Draggieland, which after a legal win by Texas A&M's Queer Empowerment Council and FIRE, is happening in College Station tonight at 7:30: https://boxoffice.tamu.edu/online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=8C3D300E-E6B8-4952-9B39-27A91F9CCDC1&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::context_id=A6B1EF1D-CE46-4EED-BAEB-9FFED77A5A87
We're proud to welcome Mayor Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
On March 29th, the State Democratic Executive Committee will choose a new chair for the Texas Democratic Party - while you don't get to vote in this very important election, you have a representative on that committee, and you should let them know your preferences: https://progresstexas.org/blog/most-important-election-you-don%E2%80%99t-know-about
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Republican Texas U.S. Congressman Pat Fallon told a town hall crowd that today's young people won't have Social Security - he recommends they "get a second job": https://www.reddit.com/r/texas/comments/1jk1dxc/the_way_we_can_fix_social_security_is_to_tell/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
The Signal group chat scandal continues, with longtime Texas Republican elected official and current Trump CIA director John Ratcliffe on the hot seat before House Democrats again today: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2025/03/25/the-sloppy-texan-in-the-trump-group-chat-that-texted-war-plans-to-a-reporter/
This morning, HB-139 is being heard at the Capitol - this is the bill that would allow Texas employers to offer their workers insurance packages that omit federal coverage mandates including child coverage and mental health options: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/healthcare/2025/03/20/employer-health-insurance-texas-house-bill-139-reduce-coverage-mandates-requirements/82516916007/
OPINION: Dallas Rep. Jasmine Crockett should apologize for remarks made about Governor Abbott's disability - but in an all-out political battle, mistakes will be made, and should be considered in proper context against the cruelty Republicans display on a daily basis: https://www.notesfromthecircus.com/p/governor-hot-wheels
...Disability rights groups similarly express disappointment in Rep. Crockett, but also recognize her value as a long-term ally: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/25/jasmine-crockett-greg-abbott-reaction-027823
...Perceptions of ineffectual resistance by mainstream Democrats is likely fueling the surge of popularity that progressives like Crockett, Greg Casar, AOC and Bernie Sanders are seeing lately: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/democrats-reaching-trump-tipping-point?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Get tickets for Draggieland, which after a legal win by Texas A&M's Queer Empowerment Council and FIRE, is happening in College Station on Thursday: https://boxoffice.tamu.edu/online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=8C3D300E-E6B8-4952-9B39-27A91F9CCDC1&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::context_id=A6B1EF1D-CE46-4EED-BAEB-9FFED77A5A87
We're proud to welcome Mayor Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
On March 29th, the State Democratic Executive Committee will choose a new chair for the Texas Democratic Party - while you don't get to vote in this very important election, you have a representative on that committee, and you should let them know your preferences: https://progresstexas.org/blog/most-important-election-you-don%E2%80%99t-know-about
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Senator John Cornyn was a big cheerleader for Trump Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who now finds himself at the center of the Yemen group chat scandal: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5211309-cornyn-calls-war-plan-group-chat-a-huge-screw-up/
...El Paso Congresswoman Veronica Escobar calls Donald Trump's claim yesterday that he didn't know anything about the security breach "astounding ignorance and profound incompetence": https://x.com/RepEscobar/status/1904254728923398355
A wave of anti-Elon Musk vandalism against Tesla cars, charging stations and dealerships now includes a live bomb threat at an Austin Tesla location: https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/crime/tesla-owners-on-edge-wave-threats-vandalism-across-us/500-8ea26273-ffc9-46ee-996e-3361b0364772
...Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi are escalating rhetoric that they consider attacks against Tesla "domestic terrorism": https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/24/tesla-austin-bomb-squad
...Bondi has demanded apologies and retractions from Dallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, who has been vocal with her criticism of Elon Musk: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/pam-bondi-jasmine-crockett-tesla-b2720908.html
...A bill at the Texas Legislature would grant Musk's SpaceX the authority to close the public Boca Chica Beach for its launches: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/spacex-elon-musk-beach-control-20237154.php
The "Life Of The Mother Act", ostensibly designed to grant more clarity and guidance for Texas doctors in treating pregnant women undergoing difficult pregancies, may also carry aims to entrench our ban on abortion: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/03/abortion-exceptions-republicans-kentucky-texas-fetal-personhood.html
A federal judge has blocked the Texas A&M Board of Regents' ban on this year's Draggieland drag show: https://thebatt.com/news/federal-judge-blocks-drag-show-ban-allows-draggieland-to-proceed/
...Get tickets for Draggieland, happening on Thursday: https://boxoffice.tamu.edu/online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=8C3D300E-E6B8-4952-9B39-27A91F9CCDC1&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::context_id=A6B1EF1D-CE46-4EED-BAEB-9FFED77A5A87
San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg celebrates his city's new friendship agreement with Quebec City: https://x.com/Ron_Nirenberg/status/1904262055944695984
...And we're proud to welcome Mayor Nirenberg as our guest for a live podcast taping in San Antonio on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives at our Party For Progress - RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
On March 29th, the State Democratic Executive Committee will choose a new chair for the Texas Democratic Party - while you don't get to vote in this very important election, you have a representative on that committee, and you should let them know your preferences: https://progresstexas.org/blog/most-important-election-you-don%E2%80%99t-know-about
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Texas Senate has approved SB-12, a bill that will expand its ban on DEI efforts to our K-12 public schools: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/24/texas-dei-public-schools-k12/
Also in the Senate, SB-37 would establish an additional layer of bureaucracy over state universities, for the purpose of ensuring that “courses do not endorse specific public policies, ideologies or legislation”...vague language that would let them crush any view with which they disagree: https://www.statesman.com/story/opinion/columns/your-voice/2025/03/24/texas-senate-bill-37-sb37-weaken-public-universities-opinion/82556335007/
And SB-31, which would clarify what doctors can do to intervene in problematic pregancies amidst Texas' near-complete abortion ban, sees support from doctors, but less enthusiasm from advocates for the broader restoration of reproductive freedom: https://www.kut.org/politics/2025-03-24/texas-legislation-life-of-the-mother-senate-bill-31-abortion-ban-doctors
Water is a key topic in the Legislature, and while a major investment is widely seen as necessary, exactly how to spend that money remains troublingly unclear: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/24/texas-legislature-water-supply-infrastructure-repair-perry-harris/
Two bills designed to limit the impact of bots and digital fraud will either help alleviate those problems - or will show which party feels they actually benefit from disinformation on social media: https://www.nathanfortexas.com/posts/release-senator-johnson-files-sjr-82-wg77p
On March 29th, the State Democratic Executive Committee will choose a new chair for the Texas Democratic Party - while you don't get to vote in this very important election, you have a representative on that committee, and you should let them know your preferences: https://progresstexas.org/blog/most-important-election-you-don%E2%80%99t-know-about
Women's History Month, being observed throughout March across Texas, serves both as a celebration of the history of breakthroughs for women, and a reminder that Texas is the worst state for them: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-women%E2%80%99s-history-month-worst-state-women
San Antonio listeners! Progress Texas will visit the Alamo City for the first time in far too long on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives and a LIVE podcast taping. RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Our 200th Happy Hour! Elon Musk is everyone’s problem—from Brownsville, Texas, to the Caribbean, to the White House. As his SpaceX operations continue to fail upwards while wreaking havoc on nearby communities and ecosystems, Dr. Christopher Basaldú with the South Texas Environmental Justice Network shares his expertise and insights on the inter-connected fight for protecting Rio Grande Valley residents from pollution and exploitation: with focuses on SpaceX and Liquified Natural Gas (LNG).
Learn more about the Dr. Christopher Basaldú and the South Texas Environmental Justice Network at https://sotxejn.org/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick and Ken Paxton were all present and cheering yesterday at the White House as Donald Trump signed an executive order dismantling the federal Department of Education: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/20/texas-greg-abbott-trump-education-department/
...Despite an intake of $12 billion in annual federal education funding, Texas ranks 29th among U.S. states for education quality: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/education/2025/03/21/trump-highlights-texas-in-dismantling-department-of-education/82579774007/
Texas now faces the possibility of being the epicenter of an eventual national - or maybe even global - measles epidemic: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/21/texas-measles-vaccine-new-mexico-oklahoma-us/
...Demonstrating how deep down the rabbit hole some anti-vaxxers have dug, the parents of the Gaines County child who died amidst the outbreak are still advocating against vaccines: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/20/texas-measles-family-gaines-county-death/
...Texas Congressional Democrats are demanding answers from the CDC on what they're doing about the outbreak, and why they're not doing more: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/healthcare/2025/03/20/lloyd-doggett-cdc-measles-outbreak-texas-symptoms-vaccine/82551785007/
The Tesla Cybertruck, built at the Austin Gigafactory, has seen its full line recalled over weak glue holding an exterior stainless steel panel in place - ALL of them have been recalled: https://www.the-independent.com/tech/tesla-cybertruck-recall-glue-panels-musk-b2719222.html
...The reliance on electric power for the doors of Tesla cars may have turned them into deathtraps in certain accident situations: https://oaklandside.org/2025/03/18/cybertruck-crash-report-says-witness-could-not-open-door-to-save-victims/
RSVP's are required for Monday's All In For Equality Advocacy Day at the Texas State Capitol, including bus transportation from San Antonio, Houston and Dallas, training on legislative visits, a noon rally, and lunch! https://secure.everyaction.com/-BQtCcqCQEGykR0ohWT3tQ2
On March 29th, the State Democratic Executive Committee will choose a new chair for the Texas Democratic Party - while you don't get to vote in this very important election, you have a representative on that committee, and you should let them know your preferences: https://progresstexas.org/blog/most-important-election-you-don%E2%80%99t-know-about
Women's History Month, being observed throughout March across Texas, serves both as a celebration of the history of breakthroughs for women, and a reminder that Texas is the worst state for them: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-women%E2%80%99s-history-month-worst-state-women
San Antonio listeners! Progress Texas will visit the Alamo City for the first time in far too long on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives and a LIVE podcast taping. RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
An anonymous tip in January led to a weeks-long investigation of the clinics in the Houston area, resulting in the arrests of midwife Maria Margarita Rojas and two of her colleagues: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/texas/houston-texas-midwife-arrested-abortions-clinics/285-b028b728-0db8-4e4f-9255-7f6f11c77f47
Rare bipartisan cooperation on clarifying medical exceptions to Texas' abortion ban is in play at the Capitol: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/abortion-ban-emergency-access-20228656.php
The Texas Senate has passed "the toughest THC ban in the nation", and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is advising retailers to close up shop ahead of its eventual signing into law: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/03/19/texas-thc-retailers-should-close-as-proposed-ban-looms-lt-gov-patrick-warns/
In addition to bills designed to give landlords more leeway in evicting their tenants, two more Republican bills would allow tenants to be kicked out while their eviction proceedings are under appeal: https://legiscan.com/TX/bill/SB1904/2025
And another Republican bill would allow Texas employers to provide their employees with benefits packages that exclude basic, state mandated services like cancer screenings and coverage for children: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/healthcare/2025/03/20/employer-health-insurance-texas-house-bill-139-reduce-coverage-mandates-requirements/82516916007/
On March 29th, the State Democratic Executive Committee will choose a new chair for the Texas Democratic Party - while you don't get to vote in this very important election, you have a representative on that committee, and you should let them know your preferences: https://progresstexas.org/blog/most-important-election-you-don%E2%80%99t-know-about
Women's History Month, being observed throughout March across Texas, serves both as a celebration of the history of breakthroughs for women, and a reminder that Texas is the worst state for them: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-women%E2%80%99s-history-month-worst-state-women
San Antonio listeners! Progress Texas will visit the Alamo City for the first time in far too long on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives and a LIVE podcast taping. RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A third arrest, that of a nurse practitioner, has been reported in the case of Houston-area clinics run by midwife Maria Rojas, who has been accused by Ken Paxton of conducting abortions illegally: https://abc13.com/post/texas-attorney-general-announces-third-arrest-illegal-abortion-case-involving-houston-area-midwife/16044651/
...A patient cited in the affadavit says she was referred to Rojas' clinic by her doctor after it was determined that her pregancy had a low likelihood of success and a high risk of medical complications: https://www.thecut.com/article/texas-abortion-arrest-maria-margarita-rojas-midwife.html
...These arrests are seen as only the beginning of aggressive law enforcement action related to abortion, with patients who leave the state for care likely on the target list: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/03/texas-midwife-first-abortion-prosecution-maria-rojas.html
20 new Texas measles cases reported yesterday bring our state total in the current outbreak to 279 - all but two in unvaccinated people: https://www.fox4news.com/news/texas-measles-cases-outbreak-2025-march-18-update
...If the outbreak takes over a year to contain, the United States will lose its status as a nation where measles has been eliminated - a status we've enjoyed for 25 years: https://www.statnews.com/2025/03/18/measles-outbreak-could-last-a-year-texas-public-health-official-predicts/
Texas officials have been documenting the personal data of people who request changes to the sex listed on their state documents - and those who even inquire about it - all while remaining silent on why: https://www.kut.org/politics/2025-03-19/texas-transgender-drivers-license-data-collection
On March 29th, the State Democratic Executive Committee will choose a new chair for the Texas Democratic Party - while you don't get to vote in this very important election, you have a representative on that committee, and you should let them know your preferences: https://progresstexas.org/blog/most-important-election-you-don%E2%80%99t-know-about
Women's History Month, being observed throughout March across Texas, serves both as a celebration of the history of breakthroughs for women, and a reminder that Texas is the worst state for them: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-women%E2%80%99s-history-month-worst-state-women
San Antonio listeners! Progress Texas will visit the Alamo City for the first time in far too long on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives and a LIVE podcast taping. RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Study of the McCarthy period during the Cold War provides essential historical perspective for those of us struggling to chart the path forward through Trump 2.0 - a time in which paranoia, threats to civil liberties, censorship and more are, once again, all too real. Author Clay Risen, whose new book "Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism and The Making of Modern America" joins us to discuss how it can help today's progressive properly conceptualize the perils of the current political reality, and continue to push forward with confidence and conviction.
Learn more about Clay Risen and his book at https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Red-Scare/Clay-Risen/9781982141806.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
In a first under Texas' abortion ban, and what's believed to be a first nationally since the overturning of Roe v Wade, two Houston-area maternity care professionals have been arrested under suspicion of performing illegal abortions: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/17/texas-abortion-midwife-arrested/
...The two Houston defendants face life in prison - despite widespread public opinion that abortion should not be so heavily restricted: https://newrepublic.com/post/192839/texas-arrests-abortion-provider-terrifying-sign
Two South Texas detention facilities are being readied to hold thousands of immigrant detainees - including entire families being incarcerated together: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/family-detention-immigrants-trump.html
HB-2, a public school funding bill featuring a $9 billion increase that its GOP backers call "historic", is actually less than half of what education advocates say our schools need: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/texas-house-republicans-call-school-funding-plan-historic-but-advocates-say-it-falls-short/
HB-4806, designed to limit payouts in injury lawsuits, would hit lower-income Texans hardest, as they generally tend to use those payouts to settle medical debts: https://foxsanantonio.com/news/local/texas-house-bill-could-cap-injury-claims-sparking-outcry-from-legal-experts
A lawsuit on behalf of the Texas A&M Queer Empowerment Council is challenging that institution's new ban on drag performances: https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/state/texas-am-queer-empowerment-council-files-federal-lawsuit-board-regents-drag-ban/500-00e242ae-070f-45a1-b1e1-1d82046ef509
On March 29th, the State Democratic Executive Committee will choose a new chair for the Texas Democratic Party - while you don't get to vote in this very important election, you have a representative on that committee, and you should let them know your preferences: https://progresstexas.org/blog/most-important-election-you-don%E2%80%99t-know-about
Women's History Month, being observed throughout March across Texas, serves both as a celebration of the history of breakthroughs for women, and a reminder that Texas is the worst state for them: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-women%E2%80%99s-history-month-worst-state-women
San Antonio listeners! Progress Texas will visit the Alamo City for the first time in far too long on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives and a LIVE podcast taping. RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Governor Abbott backs that bill to ban "furries" from public schools in his push for private school vouchers, even though he knows it targets a fictitious problem: https://www.kut.org/politics/2025-03-14/furries-texas-school-choice-vouchers
...Meanwhile lobbyists for "voucher vendors" - private companies that profit handsomely from managing voucher program money - are also pushing hard for a landfall: https://www.texasobserver.org/school-vouchers-vendors-millions-legislature/
...A great new rundown of the endgame of the 2025 voucher fight in the latest Texas Take podcast: https://megaphone.link/SFO3084352092
A Lubbock hospital has experienced a major measles exposure as an infected woman was admitted to its maternity ward, potentially re-igniting the outbreak: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/texas-measles-outbreak-hospital-newborn-babies-exposed-rcna196519
Over 1,000 mourners attended the funeral service for Congressman and former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner on Saturday: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/15/texas-sylvester-turner-funeral-houston/
...Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee has declared his intent to run for the resulting vacancy in D.C.: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/16/christian-menefee-congress-sylvester-turner/
Battery discharge, solar power and wind power have all set new records for providing power to the Texas grid this month: https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/clean-energy/texas-broke-its-solar-wind-and-battery-records-in-one-spring-week
With fire danger up today (and maybe from now on) in Texas, grab the Watch Duty app to monitor: https://app.watchduty.org/
Women's History Month, being observed throughout March across Texas, serves both as a celebration of the history of breakthroughs for women, and a reminder that Texas is the worst state for them: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-women%E2%80%99s-history-month-worst-state-women
San Antonio listeners! Progress Texas will visit the Alamo City for the first time in far too long on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives and a LIVE podcast taping. RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
New reporting by the Texas Tribune shows that a severe shortage of cooking, cleaning and drinking water for Texas towns and cities could arrive as soon as 2030: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/13/texas-water-explained-supply-demand/
...Of obvious equal importance, at least to Smithville GOP Rep. Stan Gerdes: keeping kids from being "furries" - pretending to be animals - in Texas classrooms: https://www.chron.com/news/article/texas-rep-s-new-bill-ban-non-human-behavior-20220138.php
Big Labor has a bone to pick with Elon Musk, who has retweeted a statement blaming public sector workers for the genocides of Hitler, Stalin, and Mao: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/musk-hitler-murder-public-workers-x-b2714911.html
...Polling shows a majority of Americans having severe doubts about Musk's qualifications and judgement in his new role as Trump's hatchet man: https://thehill.com/homenews/5190503-elon-musk-experience-judgement-cnn-poll/
All Texans - and all Americans - who have continued to express opposition to the Trump and Republican regime should heed the case of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian rights protestor who was "disappeared" on Saturday: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/14/why-was-mahmoud-khalil-arrested
Women's History Month, being observed throughout March across Texas, serves both as a celebration of the history of breakthroughs for women, and a reminder that Texas is the worst state for them: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-women%E2%80%99s-history-month-worst-state-women
San Antonio listeners! Progress Texas will visit the Alamo City for the first time in far too long on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives and a LIVE podcast taping. RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
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Aside from the daily drama at the Capitol, the race to succeed Ron Nirenberg as the next mayor of San Antonio is one of the top political stories in Texas, as the leadership of the Lone Star State's second-biggest city for next four years hangs in the balance.
Candidate Gina Ortiz Jones is well-known to followers of progressive politics in Texas - she has distinguished herself via an impressive military career, and serving as Under Secretary of the Air Force from 2021 to 2023 under the Biden Administration.
Learn more about Gina Ortiz Jones' run for mayor of San Antonio at https://ginaortizjones.com/.
San Antonio listeners! Progress Texas will visit the Alamo City for the first time in far too long on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives and a LIVE podcast taping. RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Governor Abbott has announced a grant of over $17 million to SpaceX for semiconductor research and development in Bastrop: https://www.kxan.com/news/spacex-to-receive-17m-from-the-texas-semiconductor-innovation-fund-grant/
...While Elon Musk's slashing of federal spending has resulted in billions in funding cut from food banks, including those across Texas: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/north-texas-food-bank-usda-cuts/3791020/
...Meanwhile Tesla's stock and public profile has taken massive damage: https://www.theverge.com/tesla/627894/tesla-stock-sales-protest-musk-trump-doge
...But whether that will matter to a guy who, after losing $100 billion of his net worth, is still the world's richest man, remains to be seen: https://www.vox.com/politics/403371/tesla-boycott-trump-elon-musk-doge
Robert Morris, former Gateway Church leader and Donald Trump spiritual adviser, may not get away with sexually abusing a child back in the '80s after all - he's been indicted in Oklahoma: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/12/robert-morris-texas-megachurch-indicted-sexual-abuse/
Women's History Month, being observed throughout March across Texas, serves both as a celebration of the history of breakthroughs for women, and a reminder that Texas is the worst state for them: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-women%E2%80%99s-history-month-worst-state-women
San Antonio listeners! Progress Texas will visit the Alamo City for the first time in far too long on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives and a LIVE podcast taping. RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Urgent action is warranted TODAY, if you happen to be one of the over half of adult Texans who rent their home from a landlord or property owner: HB-32, promoted by the Texas Apartment Association, introduced by D/FW Republican Angie Chen Button, and curiously supported by El Paso Democrat Joe Moody, would greatly speed up the process by which your landlord might evict you from your home - and mostly without due process. This bill is being heard at the House TODAY - your action in contacting your Representative in the House is needed NOW.
Thanks to Mark Melton and Stuart Campbell with the Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center for their work in opposing this bill, which is clearly bad for the millions of Texans who rent. Learn more about them at https://www.dallaseac.org/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and pitch in to support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Discussion of HB3, the Texas House GOP's attempt to establish a billion-dollar private school voucher program was heated, and hundreds signed up for a long day of testimony: https://www.kut.org/2025-03-11/texas-house-republicans-get-an-earful-from-the-opposition-on-proposed-school-voucher-program
...Texas citizens called for this money to instead be invested directly in public schools, and reminded lawmakers of the segregationist origins of the private school voucher concept: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/11/texas-house-school-voucher-bill/
...Athletics programs at public schools would take as much damage as other departments - threatening a central pillar of community in small Texas towns, and increasing already-existing performance disparity between richer and poorer districts: https://news4sanantonio.com/news/local/texas-high-school-athletics-could-face-difficulties-amid-ongoing-school-voucher-debate-school-administrators-brennan-bears
In what could be seen as a major loyalty test, Republican Senator John Cornyn and Austin Rep. Michael McCaul are countering Donald Trump's latest whim - he want to get rid of the CHIPS Act, which has resulted in billions worth of semiconductor manufacturing investment in Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/12/texas-congress-cornyn-mccaul-trump-chips-act/
Do you rent your home? Chances are, you do - and HB-32, being billed as an "anti-squatting" measure, would actually make it much easier for your landlord to evict you: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/squatters-renters-bill-20213405.php
Women's History Month, being observed throughout March across Texas, serves both as a celebration of the history of breakthroughs for women, and a reminder that Texas is the worst state for them: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-women%E2%80%99s-history-month-worst-state-women
San Antonio listeners! Progress Texas will visit the Alamo City for the first time in far too long on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives and a LIVE podcast taping. RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A huge day at the Texas State Capitol today, as House Bill 3, which would establish a private school voucher program in Texas, goes before the House Public Education Committee: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/texas-house-committee-to-hold-pivotal-hearing-on-school-voucher-bill
...New polling shows broad, bipartisan opposition to private school vouchers among voters in Texas: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/supermajority-of-texas-voters-out-on-school-choice-20212919.php
...Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows, elevated to that position by the support of the Democratic minority, says he's all in for vouchers: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/texas-house-speaker-burrows-says-he-will-vote-for-school-choice-as-democrats-fight-to-kill-the-bill/
...Governor Abbott sees vouchers as a loyalty test: if you support Trump, you should support vouchers: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/05/texas-school-choice-trump-00210195
New economic data shows that Texas would be especially hard-hit by any Trump tariffs against Mexico and Canada: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/texas-could-be-state-hardest-hit-by-tariffs-economists-say/
A new Senate bill proposes that homeless encampments be outlawed across the state - essentially criminalizing the act of being homeless in public: https://www.fox7austin.com/news/senate-bill-241-homeless-camping-ban-enforcement
Republican Congressman Pat Fallon is holding two "DOGE workshop" events in northeast D/FW next Wednesday March 19 - should make for interesting conversations: https://www.instagram.com/reppatfallon/p/DHCKLmBTAXW/
Houston Congressman and former Mayor Sylvester Turner's body will lie in state today in Houston and later this week at the Texas State Capitol in Austin, before his funeral in Houston on Saturday: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/houston/2025/03/10/515613/former-mayor-sylvester-turner-to-lie-in-state-in-houston-austin-ahead-of-funeral-this-week/
Women's History Month, being observed throughout March across Texas, serves both as a celebration of the history of breakthroughs for women, and a reminder that Texas is the worst state for them: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-women%E2%80%99s-history-month-worst-state-women
San Antonio listeners! Progress Texas will visit the Alamo City for the first time in far too long on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives and a LIVE podcast taping. RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
The battle over private school vouchers sees a major milestone on Tuesday, as House Bill 3 - the GOP-controlled House's latest scheme to redirect money earmarked for public schools to private and parochial schools instead - comes before the Texas House Public Education Committee. This is a debate that has become partisan at the legislative level, though not as completely as some other issue areas have - in fact, Governor Abbott (who has been well-paid by billionare benefactors to continue this push) has had a hand in ousting House members of his own party who disagreed with his plans on behalf of the schools back home in their rural districts, who will be among those vouchers would hurt worst. The people in those districts - many of whom were misled into voting for Abbott's cherry-picked replacements - are beginning to realize what's at stake and pipe up, but we're about to find out whether that awakening will come too late for public schools, both rural and urban, across Texas.
We wanted to cover, in the most basic terms possible, WHY a private school voucher plan is a bad idea not only for Texas schools and the families of our school kids, but ultimately for ALL Texas taxpayers. So we've brought in representatives from the non-profit Every Texan, who have done extensive, non-partisan research on the subject, and also Democratic State Rep. Gina Hinojosa of Austin, who sits on the House Public Education Committee and has been at the forefront of the fight against private school vouchers for nearly a decade.
See the website that utilizes Every Texan data to show how YOUR public school district will be affected by private school vouchers at https://dontdefundmyschool.com/.
Learn more about Every Texan at https://everytexan.org/.
Learn more about Texas House Rep. Gina Hinojosa at https://www.ginaforaustin.com/.
San Antonio listeners! Progress Texas will visit the Alamo City for the first time in far too long on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives and a LIVE podcast taping. RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can help support our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
House Bill 3, a Republican proposal to establish a private school voucher program in Texas, is set to be heard at the Capitol tomorrow - the time to call your Representative to oppose vouchers is right now. Arizona provides a great example of what opponents of this terrible idea would like to avoid: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/vouchers-texas-arizona-football-20207580.php
The West Texas measles outbreak has spread into Lea County, New Mexico - the case count, which is certainly a massive undercount, has hit 230: https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/07/health/measles-outbreaks-texas-new-mexico/index.html
...Supplies of MMR vaccines have become strained and in some of Texas' bigger cities, have been exhausted: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/08/texas-mmr-vaccine-measles-outbreak
...Rural communities, suffering from badly lacking medical infrastructure, are struggling to meet the moment as well: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/10/rural-texas-measles-outbreak-response/
...The AP and the Texas Tribune visited the scene in West Texas and produced an eye-opening short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2WNb5Uzqm4
The symptoms of ketamine abuse are developing troubling parallels with the behavior of Elon Musk, who is known to have used the drug: https://futurism.com/neoscope/elon-musk-drug-explanation
Women's History Month, being observed throughout March across Texas, serves both as a celebration of the history of breakthroughs for women, and a reminder that Texas is the worst state for them: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-women%E2%80%99s-history-month-worst-state-women
San Antonio listeners! Progress Texas will visit the Alamo City for the first time in far too long on May 6! Please join us for a fun fundraising gathering of progressives and a LIVE podcast taping. RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/sanantonio_mixer
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
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Great fun and a huge turnout for today's rally at the Texas State Capitol! Thanks to Rep. Lloyd Doggett, Rep. Greg Casar and their teams for allowing us to capture the event and all of its speakers:
00:56 - Emcee and Travis County Democratic Party Chair Pooja Sethi
03:40 - Austin U.S. Rep. Greg Casar
13:18 - California U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu
18:00 - Austin pediatrician Dr. Kimberly Avila Edwards
25:47 - Austin U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett
41:16 - Massachusetts U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren
Thanks for listening! Learn more about and support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
In an amazingly classless punching-down display, both Governor Abbott and Elon Musk have celebrated the firing of a Texas Real Estate Commission employee who refused to remove his pronounce from his work email signature: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/06/musk-greg-abbott-fired-worker-pronouns
Meanwhile, Tesla has been fined about $50 thousand for allowing the workplace conditions that killed a Pleasanton electrician last summer - the company earns that amount of money in about three minutes: https://www.kut.org/transportation/2025-03-06/elon-musk-tesla-gigafactory-worker-death-osha-fine-fines-austin-texas
The pastor of the Mercy Culture megachurch in Fort Worth and State Rep. Nate Schatzline both take to socials to celebrate the preparatory academy that church runs having an MMR vaccination rate of under 15% - the lowest of any school in Texas: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/faith/2025/03/06/fort-worths-mercy-culture-celebrates-school-with-lowest-measles-vaccination-rate-in-texas/
...While U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tells the Fox News audience to take a concoction of steroids, antibiotics and cod liver oil to ward off measles: https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/06/health/kennedy-measles-texas-doctor-treatment?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo
Thanks to all who donated to Progress Texas during this year's Amplify Austin Day fundraiser! We can't do what we do without you: https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Houston U.S. Congressman, just two months into his first term succeeding the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, has died in office at 70: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/05/sylvester-turner-texas-houston-dies/
...Until Governor Greg Abbott calls a special election to replace Turner, House Democrats are down a vote - the margin is now 218-214: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/rep-sylvester-turner-texas-democrat-houston-mayor-dies-70-rcna194875
Fellow Houston Congressman Al Green is defiant in the face of a likely censure vote in the U.S. House today over his protest at Donald Trump's Tuesday night speech: https://apnews.com/article/house-censure-green-trump-joint-address-61d82026983c99a269209bbeb32b45a5
A new Republican bill filed in the Texas House would literally outlaw the act of being transgender: https://www.salon.com/2025/03/05/identity-fraud-proposed-texas-state-law-would-make-identifying-as-transgender-a-felony/
...The bathroom bill is back too, and worse than it ever was: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/05/texas-house-bathroom-bill-transgender/
...While an employee of the Texas Real Estate Commission has been fired for refusing to remove his pronouns from his email signature: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2025/03/05/texas-agency-orders-remove-pronouns-fires-employee-who-refused/80020922007/
This year's Amplify Austin Day is happening NOW, through 6pm on Thursday March 6! A small donation goes a long way towards keeping this podcast coming every morning, and we'd appreciate the support: https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following at Progress Texas:
Huge shoutout to Houston Congressman Al Green, who defied Donald Trump to his face before being ejected from last night's speech before Congress: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/texas-al-green-removed-trump-address-20203096.php
...Unfortunately, much of the rest of the Democratic response while Trump trolled and insulted them was anemic at best: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/05/democrats-reaction-trump-address
Austin Rep. Greg Casar has been active in his opposition to Elon Musk - opposition that dates back to his days on the Austin City Council: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/05/greg-casar-elon-musk-texas-clash-dc/
The Texas Progressive Caucus has endorsed Texas Democratic Party Vice Chair for Finance and Dallas Central Appraisal District board member Kendall Scudder to succeed Gilberto Hinojosa as the next Chair of the state party: https://www.texasprogressivecaucus.org/
This year's Amplify Austin Day starts TONIGHT, Wednesday March 5 at 6pm, and continues through the same hour on Thursday March 6! A small donation goes a long way towards keeping this podcast coming every morning, and we'd appreciate the support: https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Progress Texas Advocacy Manager Reagan Stone had an opportunity to sit down at the Capitol with Representative Terry Meza, who has represented her native Irving area in North Texas since first winning election in 2018. We discussed the continuing fight for reproductive justice in Texas, the looming fight over private school vouchers, the inexplicable failure of our state to accept Medicaid expansion, reform concerning the overuse of solitary confinement in our prisons, the uphill process that Democratic lawmakers face when trying to properly represent their constituents, and more.
Learn more about State Rep. Terry Meza at https://terrymeza.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
25% Trump tariffs on all goods from Mexico and Canada are in place as of midnight: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/trumps-new-tariffs-begin-tuesday/
...The auto industry, much of which is headquartered in Texas, stands to take a huge hit: https://www.wfaa.com/article/money/trump-tariffs-canada-mexico-impact-texas-car-manufacturers-dealers/287-7c06c2ed-84ad-4554-833f-323eefac4e87
...Food prices, and thus restaurant prices, are also likely to be impacted: https://wreg.com/news/nation-and-world/ap-us-news/ap-prices-rose-along-border-ahead-of-trumps-tariffs-now-disruption-looms/
Lower-income Texas families are likely to come up short with Republican private school voucher plans, even as those lawmakers claim it will benefit them: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/04/texas-school-vouchers-low-income-students/
The West Texas measles outbreak, making headlines around the world, has not significantly changed minds in that part of the state in regard to vaccine skepticism: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/04/west-texas-measles-outbreak-mennonite-seminole/
A sharp op-ed points out what should be obvious - GOP complaints about undocumented immigrants almost never include the employers who drew them to Texas to exploit them for cheap labor: https://www.expressnews.com/opinion/commentary/article/illegal-immigrant-employers-20194811.php
This year's Amplify Austin Day starts tomorrow, Wednesday March 5 and continues through Thursday March 6! A small donation goes a long way towards keeping this podcast coming every morning, and we'd appreciate the support: https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Surprised at a tsunami of boos and jeers, Republican State Reps Cody Harris and Brad Buckley fled the stage of a town hall they tried to hold in Palestine: https://www.kltv.com/2025/03/01/school-voucher-town-hall-palestine-ends-with-state-representatives-booed-off-stage/
...Meanwhile the small-town Plainview ISD is speaking up against vouchers in their declaration of legislative priorities to the Texas Association of School Boards: https://www.myplainview.com/news/education/article/plainview-isd-voices-dissent-school-voucher-20175376.php
The West Texas measles outbreak has reached 146 cases: https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/02/health/measles-rfk-vaccines/index.html
...A case that has popped up in Austin appears unconnected, but even liberal Austin has an insufficient vaccine rate among its kindergarteners: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/health/austin-measles-case-texas-outbreak/269-8f5103b2-4718-4b35-afee-358594df7649
...In comparison though, several parochial schools across the state have far, far lower vaccination rates, as low as 15%: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2025/03/03/map-these-texas-schools-have-low-measles-vaccination-rates/
...Not only RFK Jr, but other federal health entities have so far demonstrated anemic responses to the outbreak: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/02/health/measles-vaccination-texas-kennedy.html
...Lt. Governor Dan Patrick is trying to change the subject with a silly argument to rename New York strip steaks after Texas: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/03/texas-new-york-strip-steak-dan-patrick
Elon Musk's targeting of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is bad news for Texas, and the Y'all-itics podcast has taken a deep dive on why: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/yall-itics/consumer-financial-protection-bureau-elon-musk-texas/287-74d2c5cf-ad59-4b22-a57a-f0638404c545
...Meanwhile, as tempting as it might be, it's not Texas friendly to vandalize your neighbor's Tesla: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/tesla-buyers-remorse-vandalism-cheese-20189380.php
This year's Amplify Austin Day is this week, starting Wednesday March 5 and continuing through Thursday March 6! A small donation goes a long way towards keeping this podcast coming every morning, and we'd appreciate the support: https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Republican officials from Governor Abbott on down have been generally silent when it comes to recommending vaccinations for their constituents in the midst of the biggest outbreak of measles in Texas in three decades: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/28/texas-measles-abbott-lawmakers-response/
...The Mennonite community of Gaines County has become a scapegoat in the outbreak, but their doctrine does not specifically forbid vaccines - the issue is science denial, not religion: https://www.chron.com/culture/religion/article/mennonites-measles-west-texas-20189910.php
...Much closer to the real cause is widespread for-profit anti-vax misinformation along the lines of that peddled for years by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. - now part of a Trump administration that has canceled this year's FDA meeting on flu vaccines: https://truthout.org/articles/rfk-downplays-texas-measles-outbreak-after-first-us-death-in-10-years/
Massive and haphazard federal layoffs have resulted in a severe decline in service at our national parks, including Big Bend: https://www.chron.com/life/wildlife/article/texas-parks-lines-layoffs-20184426.php
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, known for his fondness for cupcakes, raw milk and "Jesus shots", is now railing against fluoride in public drinking water: https://www.expressnews.com/opinion/editorial/article/sid-miller-water-fluoride-ban-texas-20191495.php
Freshman GOP State Rep. Brent Money of East Texas has filed a bill calling for the repealing of no-fault divorce in Texas: https://fastdemocracy.com/bill-search/tx/89/bills/TXB00076560/
...He's also calling for the current ban on gender-affirming care for minors to be expanded into a full ban for everyone: https://fastdemocracy.com/bill-search/tx/89/bills/TXB00076559/
...While D/FW State Senator Phil King has introduced a bill that would require Texas law enforcement agencies to conceal records regarding police officer discipline from the public: https://www.kut.org/crime-justice/2025-02-24/austin-police-department-misconduct-oversight-texas-legislature
This year's Amplify Austin Day begins on the evening of Wednesday March 5 and continues through the evening of Thursday March 6! Help Progress Texas continue our important work here: https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! See a great essay on this year's celebration, happening amidst so much turmoil, and a listing of related events happening across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/black-history-month-2025-celebrating-texas-culture
...Check out a terrific essay for Black History Month by Progress Texas Institute Board Chair Louis Bedford: https://progresstexas.org/blog/trickle-down-diversity-doesn%E2%80%99t-work
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A child died Tuesday night of measles at a Lubbock hospital - the first American measles death since 2015: https://apnews.com/article/measles-outbreak-west-texas-death-rfk-41adc66641e4a56ce2b2677480031ab9
...New Trump administration U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tried to downplay the Texas outbreak, falsely claiming that most hospitalizations are simply for quarantine purposes: https://newrepublic.com/post/192025/robert-f-kennedy-jr-response-measles-death
...Texas Republican leaders are now forced to try to counter the anti-vax sentiments they've allowed to develop in Texas as they send out teams to contain the outbreak: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/texas-measles-death-outbreak-20189434.php
A rare unanimous vote in the Texas Senate as priority school funding passes, including raises for teachers but not an increase in the basic allotment for schools, which has not risen since 2019 despite inflation: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/18/texas-senate-teacher-pay/
...A clear prioritization of raises for rural Texas teachers over their urban counterparts may be a strategy to soften the blow that small town schools are likely to suffer as private school vouchers get closer to passing: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/26/texas-house-vouchers-republican-cosponsors/
...Proposed budgets from both the Senate and House include massive funding cuts for Texas universities, a clear threat for those institutions to do away with anything remotely resembling DEI: https://www.click2houston.com/news/texas/2025/02/27/texas-legislature-proposes-400-million-cut-to-higher-ed-as-dan-patrick-threatens-university-budgets-over-dei/
A legal complaint against a Dallas-based assistant chief counsel for ICE has been filed, using a Texas Observer report that he's the author of a virulent racist social media account as its basis: https://www.theroot.com/this-texas-ice-attorney-allegedly-tweeted-america-is-a-1851766609
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! See a great essay on this year's celebration, happening amidst so much turmoil, and a listing of related events happening across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/black-history-month-2025-celebrating-texas-culture
...Check out a terrific essay for Black History Month by Progress Texas Institute Board Chair Louis Bedford: https://progresstexas.org/blog/trickle-down-diversity-doesn%E2%80%99t-work
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Anti-vax "experts" are blaming the Texas measles outbreak on the measles outbreak itself - and are theorizing that the outbreak was engineered as an attack on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/texas-measles-outbreak-anti-vaccine-advocates-blame-shot-rcna193478
...The case count is now up to 128, with cases popping up 250 miles from the Gaines County epicenter: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/18/texas-measles-outbreak-climbs/
...The Republican mayor of Brownfield, Texas - in Terry County which has seen 21 measles cases so far - bravely attests that he believes in vaccines: https://apnews.com/article/measles-texas-new-mexico-mmr-outbreak-vaccines-408371700e3ab548777bf0354e586549
...The Texas measles outbreak is rightly seen as the first major public health response failure of the second Trump administration: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/texas-measles-outbreak-vaccine-trump-100-newsletter-rcna193543
Massive federal budget cuts proposed by Congressional Republicans will likely impact Medicaid - which would certainly impact thousands of Texas children: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2025/02/26/texas-children-will-be-in-danger-with-medicaid-proposed-cuts/
...Even as things are now, Texas is dead last in the U.S. for health care coverage for kids: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/26/texas-children-chip-medicaid-uninsured/
Governor Abbott issues full-throated condemnation of a proposed Muslim residential development in northeast Texas: https://www.audacy.com/krld/news/local/planned-muslim-community-near-dallas
Governor Abbott apparently has no plans to ramp down the billions it's spending on Operation Lone Star, even as federal border enforcement ramps up: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/greg-abbott-border-spending-trump-20187542.php
Civil rights groups are demanding that the Fort Worth Police Department return photos by a world-renowned artist that it confiscated from an exhibit at the Modern Art Museum: https://www.chron.com/culture/arts/article/museum-fort-worth-mann-photos-20181456.php
San Angelo Rep. August Pfluger has been fundraising on the idea that Donald Trump should serve a third term as President: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/25/pfluger-texas-fundraising-trump-third-term/
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! See a great essay on this year's celebration, happening amidst so much turmoil, and a listing of related events happening across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/black-history-month-2025-celebrating-texas-culture
...Check out a terrific essay for Black History Month by Progress Texas Institute Board Chair Louis Bedford: https://progresstexas.org/blog/trickle-down-diversity-doesn%E2%80%99t-work
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A lawsuit filed by the state in an attempt to escape enforcing a new law protecting workers in the process of pregnancy and maternity threatens a broader undermining of Congressional authority: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/02/texas-pregnant-workers-fairness-constitutional-chaos.html
Doctors as far north as Chicago are warily eyeing the ongoing measles outbreak in Texas: https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/chicago-doctor-concerned-texas-measles-outbreak/
...Austin Public Health officials are renewing their call for everyone to be sure they're protected via vaccination: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/austin-public-health-encourages-everybody-to-get-measles-vaccination
...Anyone who has contracted measles from the contagious person from Gaines County who visited San Antonio, New Braunfels and San Marcos over Valentine's weekend would likely be showing symptoms (and would be contagious themselves) between yesterday and March 2: https://www.cdc.gov/measles/hcp/communication-resources/clinical-diagnosis-fact-sheet.html#:~:text=The%20incubation%20period%20is%20typically,4%20days%20after%20rash%20onset.
...Measles can also cause "immune amnesia", which leaves the patient more vulnerable to all other pathogens: https://asm.org/articles/2019/may/measles-and-immune-amnesia
Governor Abbott announces that Colony Ridge, the Houston-area community long demonized as a criminal immigrant hotbed by Texas Republicans over the objections of local law enforcement, "is being targeted" by ICE: https://www.tpr.org/border-immigration/2025-02-24/texas-gov-greg-abbott-says-colony-ridge-community-target-of-immigration-enforcement
Houston GOP Congressman Dan Crenshaw has been caught on camera trashing right wing talking head Tucker Carlson, who has invited Crenshaw to come on his show to continue the spat: https://www.nydailynews.com/2025/02/24/rep-dan-crenshaw-kill-tucker-carlson-x/
Dairy Queen locations in 25 small Texas towns have shut down after a conflict between their Texas franchisee and the parent company over the failure of the franchisee to modernize those restaurants: https://www.ketk.com/news/local-news/the-court-battle-behind-25-texas-dairy-queen-closures-revealed/
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! See a great essay on this year's celebration, happening amidst so much turmoil, and a listing of related events happening across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/black-history-month-2025-celebrating-texas-culture
...Check out a terrific essay for Black History Month by Progress Texas Institute Board Chair Louis Bedford: https://progresstexas.org/blog/trickle-down-diversity-doesn%E2%80%99t-work
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The West Texas measles outbreak had grown to almost 100 cases by Friday: https://www.iflscience.com/us-measles-outbreaks-nearly-100-people-infected-across-two-states-78173
...Alerts have been sounded in San Antonio, New Braunfels and San Marcos as an infected person from West Texas visited various locations there between February 14 and 16: https://www.tpr.org/public-health/2025-02-23/breaking-news-possible-measles-exposures-in-san-antonio
...Some people, depending on when they were vaccinated, may want to consider an additional shot: https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/02/21/nx-s1-5304458/measles-vaccine-booster-health
A rally in Austin on Saturday against private school vouchers organized by Save Texas Schools was attended by several longtime private school vouchers opponents including Congressman Lloyd Doggett, State Rep's Gina Hinojosa, Maria Luisa Flores and James Talarico: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/save-texas-schools-vouchers-20181988.php
...Gainesville Intermediate School and Gainesville ISD has remained conspicuously silent about the suicide of 11 year old Jocelyn Rojo Carranza, who was relentlessly bullied with threats of deportation against her family for weeks prior to her death: https://www.chron.com/news/article/11-year-old-suicide-texas-20178483.php
KPRC-TV in Houston has removed an investigative journalism piece on Cy-Fair ISD's editing out of information about diversity, vaccines, and climate change because it featured historic footage of Nazi book burnings, drawing Republican complaints: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/kprc-video-republicans-20177616.php
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! See a great essay on this year's celebration, happening amidst so much turmoil, and a listing of related events happening across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/black-history-month-2025-celebrating-texas-culture
...Check out a terrific essay for Black History Month by Progress Texas Institute Board Chair Louis Bedford: https://progresstexas.org/blog/trickle-down-diversity-doesn%E2%80%99t-work
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A ProPublica analysis reveals that unnecessary cases of sepsis resulting from second-trimester failed pregnancies has jumped 50% since Texas largely banned abortion procedures: https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-abortion-ban-sepsis-maternal-mortality-analysis
...Congratulations to reproductive rights activist and advocate Amanda Zurawski, who has been named one of Time Magazine's Women Of The Year for 2025: https://time.com/7216391/amanda-zurawski-texas-reproductive-rights/
As Senate Republicans begin standing up to Donald Trump's lies about Ukraine, John Cornyn remains timid and hesitant, and Ted Cruz remains oblivious: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-ukraine-zelensky-john-cornyn-thune-b2701516.html
Hundreds of firings of IRS employees in Austin are likely to result from the ongoing DOGE onslaught against federal agencies: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-rep-doggett-confirms-austin-irs-workers-among-those-let-go-in-layoffs/
State House Republicans have dropped their public school plan, complete with a private school voucher scam, that Rep. James Talarico calls "inadequate" and "insufficient": https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/20/texas-house-school-vouchers/
...While more Texas ISD's are adopting the religion-infused Bluebonnet Learning curriculum approved by SBOE last fall: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/texas-school-districts-embrace-sunday-school-20175361.php
...One of those is Conroe ISD, who have also lately slashed a popular and successful dual-language learning program: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/conroe-isd-dual-language-20173087.php
TCEQ has unanimously denied requests to stop SpaceX from dumping toxic wastewater into Boca Chica wetlands: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/state-regulators-approve-elon-musks-spacex-to-release-wastewater-into-south-texas-wetlands-36790995
...See a terrific short documentary on the impact that SpaceX has had on the South Texas communities it has invaded: https://youtu.be/5cZEZoa8rW0?si=tWPShQSD7a_XZAuk
The Texas power grid has held through this cold snap, despite hitting 80,000 megawatts of demand for the first time in winter, sustained largely by battery storage of energy from sustainable sources: https://x.com/douglewinenergy/status/1892568345381388645?t=MzMJrglEsS9EAMafw40LRQ&s=03
...While Houston's Centerpoint Energy, notorious for their flat-footed response to Hurricane Beryl last summer, cleared $1 billion in profit, even as they failed the Houston community: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/energy-environment/2025/02/20/514385/centerpoint-profited-over-1-billion-in-2024-despite-hurricane-beryl-outages/
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! See a great essay on this year's celebration, happening amidst so much turmoil, and a listing of related events happening across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/black-history-month-2025-celebrating-texas-culture
...Check out a terrific essay for Black History Month by Progress Texas Institute Board Chair Louis Bedford: https://progresstexas.org/blog/trickle-down-diversity-doesn%E2%80%99t-work
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texas Republican lawmakers in D.C. are mostly silent as Donald Trump threatens to abandon Ukraine and NATO in favor of Russia and Vladimir Putin: https://www.mytexasdaily.com/news/national/pressured-by-putin-and-trump-walls-close-in-on-zelensky/article_4c5d2204-56ec-51ad-b4f3-35c960e01b04.html
Dallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett points out that red states that elected Trump generally use more federal benefits than blue states do, and that that funding is on Elon Musk's chopping block: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jasmine-crockett-red-states-recession-find-out-trump-cuts_n_67b6b508e4b0cc5d77998248
Trump and Elon Musk are both weighing in in favor of private school vouchers in Texas, with Trump threatening House Republicans that he "will be watching closely": https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/20/texas-vouchers-trump-elon-musk-greg-abbott/
Congressman Greg Casar is demanding answers from OSHA on the death of a Pleasanton electrician at the Tesla Gigafactory in Austin: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/greg-casar-tesla-death-gigafactory-austin-texas-elon-musk-victor-gomez/269-c045d03a-35ae-4100-a312-0839489aeaee
We are heartbroken at the story of Jocelynn Carranza, a Gainesville sixth grader thought to have committed suicide after being bullied with threats from classmates to turn her parents in to ICE: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/family-blames-bullying-immigration-status-11-year-olds-death-suicide/287-257d34b7-b8ba-41e1-8504-7122e7004105
...Right on cue, Texas Observer investigative reporter Steven Monacelli identifies a Dallas ICE legal employee as the manager of a virulently racist social media account: https://www.texasobserver.org/ice-prosecutor-dallas-white-supremacist-x-account/
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! See a great essay on this year's celebration, happening amidst so much turmoil, and a listing of related events happening across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/black-history-month-2025-celebrating-texas-culture
...Check out a terrific essay for Black History Month by Progress Texas Institute Board Chair Louis Bedford: https://progresstexas.org/blog/trickle-down-diversity-doesn%E2%80%99t-work
The early giving period for this year's Amplify Austin Day has begun! Support Progress Texas at https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute.
Progress Texas is now ranked in the top 3% of all podcasts worldwide for listenership - thank you! https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/progress-texas-podcasts-progress-texas-pHdPjbaN-7B/
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Grab your goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A Senate bill aimed at teacher pay raises will only benefit those who stick around through years of the terrible pay and conditions that have heavily damaged the profession in Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/18/texas-senate-teacher-pay/
...Another Senate bill wants to direct Texas funds into a Bitcoin reserve - exposing state dollars to high degrees of risk and volatility: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/crypto-reserve-proposed-at-texas-legislature/
Governor Abbott spoke Monday at a San Antonio parochial school whose annual tuition is almost double the amount his private school voucher scam would give parents to offset that cost: https://www.tpr.org/education/2025-02-18/gov-greg-abbott-visits-san-antonio-christian-school-to-promote-voucher-legislation
...Abbott also told this Christian school audience that Texas private school teachers have been forcing school kids to "become transgender" against their will - an outlandish, preposterous lie: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/at-san-antonio-speech-texas-governor-claims-teachers-forcing-kids-to-change-their-genders-36791033
The Gaines County measles outbreak has reached a count of 58 - certainly an undercount - and now includes at least 4 people who say they're vaccinated: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/18/texas-measles-outbreak-climbs/
...Gaines County serves as an example of what to expect from rural communities where vaccine skepticism provides an opportunity for once-defeated diseases to stage comebacks: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/measles-outbreak-texas-symptoms-vaccine-b2700388.html
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! See a great essay on this year's celebration, happening amidst so much turmoil, and a listing of related events happening across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/black-history-month-2025-celebrating-texas-culture
...Check out a terrific essay for Black History Month by Progress Texas Institute Board Chair Louis Bedford: https://progresstexas.org/blog/trickle-down-diversity-doesn%E2%80%99t-work
The early giving period for this year's Amplify Austin Day has begun! Support Progress Texas at https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute.
Progress Texas is now ranked in the top 3% of all podcasts worldwide for listenership - thank you! https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/progress-texas-podcasts-progress-texas-pHdPjbaN-7B/
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Grab your goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Elon Musk and his team of hackers are zeroing in on Social Security: https://thehill.com/opinion/5148448-elon-musk-targeting-social-security/
...The acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration has resigned over Musk's attempts to gain access to its sensitive financial data on American citizens: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/17/us/politics/social-security-musk-team-access.html
Meanwhile, House GOP members are pushing a budget resolution that features massive cuts to Medicaid: https://thehill.com/newsletters/health-care/5149960-medicaid-concerns-threaten-gop-budget-resolution/
...Budget committee chair Jodey Arrington of Lubbock's office can be reached here: https://arrington.house.gov/
...Dallas retirees turned out in droves over potential Medicaid cuts at yesterday's Presidents' Day protest: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/retirees-protest-proposed-cuts-to-medicaid-social-safety-nets-in-dallas/287-9244982c-c0d3-4b3f-bccc-3495520a2f0e
Dallas Police Department Interim Chief Michael Igo pledges that DPD is NOT helping ICE with their efforts to detain undocumented folks: https://www.latintimes.com/dallas-police-refuses-join-ice-immigration-raids-launches-outreach-meetings-migrants-instead-575548
...As many as half of the kids at one Austin elementary school have been staying home out of fear of ICE: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/local/2025/02/16/austin-aisd-school-fear-ice-immigration-arrests-deportations/78473805007/
The Texas General Land Office is holding an essay contest for 4th and 7th graders - we suggest an essay on how the "Texians" decided to revolt because they wanted to keep their slaves: https://www.myhighplains.com/news/local-news/texas-general-land-office-accepting-essays-for-save-texas-history-essay-contest/
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! See a great essay on this year's celebration, happening amidst so much turmoil, and a listing of related events happening across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/black-history-month-2025-celebrating-texas-culture
...Check out a terrific essay for Black History Month by Progress Texas Institute Board Chair Louis Bedford: https://progresstexas.org/blog/trickle-down-diversity-doesn%E2%80%99t-work
The early giving period for this year's Amplify Austin Day has begun! Support Progress Texas at https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute.
Progress Texas is now ranked in the top 3% of all podcasts worldwide for listenership - thank you! https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/progress-texas-podcasts-progress-texas-pHdPjbaN-7B/
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Grab your goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Presidents' Day is about noting ALL of the Presidents - not just the current one, who falls at the very bottom of the most recent ranking done by the Presidential Greatness Project: https://presidentialgreatnessproject.com/
Trump's prospects of improving that dead-last ranking appear dismal as Elon Musk and his DOGE hackers are now this close to having their hands on your most personal financial data, stored by the IRS: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/17/business/musk-irs-doge.html
...Musk and his wild frenzy of federal firings came close to leaving the American nuclear arsenal unattended last week, including the Pantex plant near Amarillo: https://time.com/7225798/doge-fires-national-nuclear-security-administration-energy-rehires-musk-trump/
Governor Abbott all but admitted last week that the GOP private school voucher scam will negatively impact funding for public schools across Texas: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/abbott-school-choice-20167741.php
As frigid weather approaches Texas again and the fourth anniversary of the Winter Storm Uri energy disaster arrives, the Texas grid remains unconnected to outside power sources, and not a single of the 30,000 lawsuits filed over Uri have made it to court: https://www.dallasnews.com/business/2025/02/17/texas-courts-blocking-jury-trials-for-30000-victims-of-2021-winter-storm/
...Those same energy execs are likely involved in the 5.0 earthquake that struck West Texas on Friday night, almost certainly associated with increased oilfield fracking: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/15/texas-west-earthquake-magnitude/
The 50501 group has organized protests nationwide this Presidents' Day, including at both the Dallas and Houston City Halls from 12 noon to 4pm today: https://www.commondreams.org/news/anti-trump-protests
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! See a great essay on this year's celebration, happening amidst so much turmoil, and a listing of related events happening across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/black-history-month-2025-celebrating-texas-culture
...Check out a terrific essay for Black History Month by Progress Texas Institute Board Chair Louis Bedford: https://progresstexas.org/blog/trickle-down-diversity-doesn%E2%80%99t-work
The early giving period for this year's Amplify Austin Day has begun! Support Progress Texas at https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute.
Progress Texas is now ranked in the top 3% of all podcasts worldwide for listenership - thank you! https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/progress-texas-podcasts-progress-texas-pHdPjbaN-7B/
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Grab your goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
In Texas, being an outspoken progressive person comes with risks. In a state overrun by MAGA, wearing your belief in equality, compassion and kindness on your sleeve can invite conflict with not only family members and neighbors, but also your boss - thus, now more than in the recent past, it's risky to speak up. Brad Stuver and his wife Ashley, in founding the Brad and Ashley Stuver Foundation, a new org dedicated to providing fundraising help for other progressive initiatives, exemplify the courage to stand up for what's right, even when others around you might prefer that you didn't. At a time when this courage might be scary - even for sports stars and celebrities, much less us everyday folks - it's also more important than ever to find that courage, and to put it into action.
Learn more about the Brad And Ashley Stuver Foundation at https://www.bastuverfoundation.org/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and all that we do at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Spurred by Elon Musk's commentary that USAID is a "criminal organization", Russian officials who have suspected that organization of supporting anti-Putin dissidents wants Musk and Trump to turn over their names: https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/russia-elon-musk-list-names-dissidents-usaid-s798gktd7
About 100 suspected undocumented migrants have been sent to the shadowy detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba over the last couple of weeks with no public information of their identities, nor legal representation or contact provided: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/13/immigration-flights-elpaso-guantanamo/
Governor Greg Abbott has asserted that he knows more about the contents and meaning of the Holy Bible than Pope Francis does: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/abbott-pope-border-20165198.php
Human Rights Watch says over 100 deaths and over 300 injuries can be attributed to dangerous high speed chases by Operation Lone Star officers since 2021: https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/02/13/us-texas-vehicle-pursuits-kill-least-106-injure-301
A Texas judge has slapped a New York doctor with a $100,000 fine for providing abortion medication to Texas patients via telemedicine: https://www.kut.org/health/2025-02-13/texas-abortion-law-new-york-doctor-prescription-pills
ERCOT issues a forecast that allows the possibility that new drains on the power grid coming online may exceed their capacity to keep up by the summer of next year - but don't panic: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/13/texas-power-grid-ercot-energy-forecast/
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! See a great essay on this year's celebration, happening amidst so much turmoil, and a listing of related events happening across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/black-history-month-2025-celebrating-texas-culture
...Check out a terrific essay for Black History Month by Progress Texas Institute Board Chair Louis Bedford: https://progresstexas.org/blog/trickle-down-diversity-doesn%E2%80%99t-work
The early giving period for this year's Amplify Austin Day has begun! Support Progress Texas at https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute.
Progress Texas is now ranked in the top 3% of all podcasts worldwide for listenership - thank you! https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/progress-texas-podcasts-progress-texas-pHdPjbaN-7B/
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Grab your goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Congressional Democrats are railing against the abdication by the Congress of their control of federal purse strings to the unelected Elon Musk, including Austin Congressman Greg Casar:https://www.reddit.com/r/QuiverQuantitative/s/gNFR33sfZS
...And Dallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett:https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/02/12/first-doge-committee-hearing-showcases-partisan-divide-over-elon-musks-role/
Big money is very much running the show lately not only in D.C., but also back here in Texas, where the push to Christianize our public schools is in full swing at the Lege:https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/13/texas-speaker-race-house-tim-dunn-dustin-burrows/
...Texas Republicans have filed multiple House and Senate bills that would criminalize the teaching of basic reproductive biology via sex-ed lessons in our public schools, including the arrest of teachers:https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2025-02-14/texas-gop-gets-creative-in-crusade-against-sex-education/
...Freshman State Rep. Andy Hopper wants to eliminate the Texas Education Agency altogether:https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/texas-lawmaker-files-bill-abolish-texas-education-agency/
The Gaines County measles outbreak has grown to 24 cases, all unvaccinated:https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/science/measles-vaccination-texas.html
...And all 100% preventable:https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2025/02/13/west-texas-measles-outbreak-spreads-among-unvaccinated-residents/
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! See a great essay on this year's celebration, happening amidst so much turmoil, and a listing of related events happening across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/black-history-month-2025-celebrating-texas-culture
...Check out a terrific essay for Black History Month by Progress Texas Institute Board Chair Louis Bedford: https://progresstexas.org/blog/trickle-down-diversity-doesn%E2%80%99t-work
The early giving period for this year's Amplify Austin Day has begun! Support Progress Texas at https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute.
Progress Texas is now ranked in the top 3% of all podcasts worldwide for listenership - thank you! https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/progress-texas-podcasts-progress-texas-pHdPjbaN-7B/
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Grab your goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
In a bizarre moment, Elon Musk casually towered over Donald Trump in the Oval Office during a press conference on DOGE's federal cost-cutting efforts:https://www.irishtimes.com/world/us/2025/02/12/unelected-musk-holds-court-in-trumps-oval-office-as-he-defends-efficiency-drive/
...MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell analyzes this crazy, telling moment at length:https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=dZaa8zBlwP8
...Musk's awkward diatribe of techbro-speak is fact checked by the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/us/elon-musk-doge-fact-check.html
Texas research universities - and a group of 22 state Attorneys General - are pushing back in court against Trump's reckless budget cuts:https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/10/texas-universities-research-nih/
...The Association Of American Medical Colleges celebrates a restraining order against funding changes that would jeopardize important ongoing research:https://www.aamc.org/news/press-releases/aamc-lawsuit-results-nationwide-temporary-restraining-order-proposed-drastic-cuts-nih-funding
...This is the kind of pushback that was lacking as Texas universities rolled over for lawmakers attacking DEI college initiatives at the beginning of last year:https://truthout.org/articles/texas-colleges-rolled-over-for-anti-dei-bill-now-they-face-a-broader-attack/
We're watching the Senate Committee On Energy and Natural Resources, GOP members of which may be compromised by the campaign donations they've received from oil and gas lobbyists:https://www.energy.senate.gov/2025/2/heinrich-murray-merkley-klobuchar-demand-answers-from-usda-on-wildfire-mitigation-projects-firefighting-hiring-halted-by-trump-s-funding-freeze
Today at 12 noon Central, the Houston Chronicle will host and interview and Q&A with Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee:https://events.zoom.us/ev/AkYP3aeQBQDMKgLqSsKWTQjvcGGfEKLSbiVZ4e7d9nNSGnMnH0nj~AsaoGmyvnx2jfKJ-Ud9iwv2JnRnlBorxPtwMoIFf2duVwzfwQfByrTcPl6kpr-O-QlMvt9fRFtnYt_vqDrwdP6ADTQ?sid=66fb145d7332661617053154&ss=P&st_rid=null&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=news&utm_campaign=hcrn%20%7C%20hc-live
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! See a great essay on this year's celebration, happening amidst so much turmoil, and a listing of related events happening across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/black-history-month-2025-celebrating-texas-culture
...Check out a terrific essay for Black History Month by Progress Texas Institute Board Chair Louis Bedford: https://progresstexas.org/blog/trickle-down-diversity-doesn%E2%80%99t-work
The early giving period for this year's Amplify Austin Day has begun! Support Progress Texas at https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute.
Progress Texas is now ranked in the top 3% of all podcasts worldwide for listenership - thank you! https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/progress-texas-podcasts-progress-texas-pHdPjbaN-7B/
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Grab your goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The measles outbreak in Gaines County appears to be gaining momentum, spreading concern across the state at a time when vaccination rates are down:https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/measles-outbreak-texas-20159156.php
...The problem isn't limited to rural Texas - Houston kindergarteners saw a massive drop in measles vaccinations over the pandemic period: https://www.khou.com/article/news/health/measles-outbreak-texas-vaccination-rate/285-ba5d50d9-417a-485b-b4a6-446db33d12ff
...Check the vaccination rate at your Texas public school here: https://www.dshs.texas.gov/immunizations/data/school/coverage
Ken Paxton has expanded his investigations over trans kids playing sports to two more Texas school districts: Hutto ISD and Richardson ISD: https://www.tpr.org/government-politics/2025-02-10/texas-ag-paxton-investigating-two-more-school-districts-over-trans-athlete-policies
...Paxton clearly views picking on trans Texans as a solid way to ramp up a potential midterm primary challenge against U.S. Senator John Cornyn: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/11/cornyn-paxton-possible-senate-primary/
A newly-proposed law would hold Texas businesses who don't allow the carrying of guns on their property liable for damage or injury that results from a crime on that property: https://www.kltv.com/2025/02/10/state-senator-east-texas-business-owner-speak-sb-82s-concealed-carry-liability/
A watchdog group is calling on the Attorney General to investigate misuse of private medical information of clients by so-called crisis pregnancy centers, which are mostly not subject to HIPAA regulations:https://www.dallasnews.com/business/2025/02/10/watchdog-calls-for-tx-others-to-do-their-jobs-as-pregnancy-centers-spark-privacy-fears/
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! See a great essay on this year's celebration, happening amidst so much turmoil, and a listing of related events happening across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/black-history-month-2025-celebrating-texas-culture
...Check out a terrific essay for Black History Month by Progress Texas Institute Board Chair Louis Bedford: https://progresstexas.org/blog/trickle-down-diversity-doesn%E2%80%99t-work
The early giving period for this year's Amplify Austin Day has begun! Support Progress Texas at https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute.
Progress Texas is now ranked in the top 3% of all podcasts worldwide for listenership - thank you! https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/progress-texas-podcasts-progress-texas-pHdPjbaN-7B/
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Grab your goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Kanye West, as part of a long, unhinged tirade in several topical directions, cites Texas transplant Elon Musk as having stolen his "Nazi swag":https://m.economictimes.com/magazines/panache/kanye-west-says-i-love-hitler-accuses-elon-musk-of-stealing-his-nazi-swag-in-explosive-social-media-rant/articleshow/118027124.cms
Dallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett has been calling it like it is in regard to the Republican attack on DEI, saying "if you're confident, you're not concerned":https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jasmine-crockett-dei-mediocre-white-boys_n_67a4e6e9e4b0d1a51c62f40e
Governor Abbott has been on a tour of Christian private academies promoting his voucher program, speaking to audiences of current private school families who are eager for their taxpayer-funded rebates:https://myrgv.com/local-news/2025/02/07/abbott-touts-school-choice-at-private-academy-in-edinburg/#google_vignette
...Abbott is also warning that public school teachers who acknowledge the mere existence of transgender kids "should be fired on the spot”:https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/greg-abbott-trans-teachers-20151819.php
Rural Gaines County, near Lubbock, has seen a major outbreak of measles cases, even as GOP lawmakers file several bills aimed at limiting requirements for vaccinations:https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/08/measles-west-texas-vaccine-outbreak/
A Dallas ad agency placed that "He Gets Us" commercial on last night's Super Bowl on behalf of Come Near, a religious media concern with the IRS designation normally reserved for churches, which allows them to hide almost all of their funding and expenditure information:https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/super-bowl-ad-jesus-he-gets-us-come-near-hobby-lobby-1235256968/
...Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts is a native of Houston and played high school football at Channelview:https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/texans/article/super-bowl-mvp-jalen-hurts-channelview-20157788.php
Austin Chronicle writer Marc Savlov posts a great guide for the proper hassling of your elected representatives:https://www.facebook.com/502969135/posts/10162824366549136/?rdid=nO4biD1ojCPdL5W7#
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! See a great essay on this year's celebration, happening amidst so much turmoil, and a listing of related events happening across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/black-history-month-2025-celebrating-texas-culture
The early giving period for this year's Amplify Austin Day has begun! Support Progress Texas athttps://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute.
Progress Texas is now ranked in the top 3% of all podcasts worldwide for listenership - thank you!https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/progress-texas-podcasts-progress-texas-pHdPjbaN-7B/
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Grab your goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there athttps://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Houston State Rep. Gene Wu, Chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, has long been one of our favorite fighters for progress in the Lone Star State. And Clayton Tucker, wearer of many stylish hats in Texas progressive circles is a voice we follow closely as well - for this discussion, joining us in his role as Program Associate for the Trade Justice Education Fund. How should progressive Texans be viewing the current fight against both a rising tech-bro oligarchy and the ham-fisted, demonstrative trade policies of Donald Trump that risk a trade war - one that could be devastating for border areas like Texas? Settle in for straight talk on our desperate current situation and what YOU can do about it - the main point is, you need to do it NOW.
Find Rep. Gene Wu athttps://www.genefortexas.com andhttps://house.texas.gov/members/2865.
Find the Trade Justice Education Fund athttps://tradejusticeedfund.org/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work athttps://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Lawsuits against technical moves made by Elon Musk and his team of hackers that have exposed sensitive data are gaining steam:https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/02/federal-workers-sue-opm-elon-musk-takeover.html
...Musk and DOGE's disruption of USAID has potentially derailed a new HIV vaccine, and has disrupted programs to mitigate malaria:https://futurism.com/neoscope/usaid-trial-hiv-vaccine
...Senior Texas U.S. Senator John Cornyn says concern about Musk's bulldozing of the federal government is "hysteria" - he's up for re-election in 2026, and we need to get started on that now:https://www.kgns.tv/2025/02/06/texas-sen-cornyn-backs-trump-nominees-defends-elon-musks-role/
...Musk's SpaceX company is becoming notorious among local South Texas contractors for failing to pay its bills:https://www.chron.com/culture/article/spacex-overdue-bills-texas-19454904.php
Ken Paxton is targeting both Dallas and Irving ISD over accusations of allowing "boys to compete in girls sports", spurred by heavily edited and now-viral videos:https://www.keranews.org/education/2025-02-06/texas-paxton-trans-athletes-dallas-irving-isd-video
January 6th rioter Andrew Taake, released after his pardon despite the Houston District Attorney wanting him held on a child sex charge, has been captured in rural Leon County after two weeks as a fugitive:https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/06/arrest-trump-pardon-insurrection/
Secular Houston and a coalition of partners are holding lobby days at the Texas Capitol on several bills related to religious freedom on Monday and Tuesday of next week:https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oJKNq0q702KVnFVY3BOq5d4LwsVR5NSr_9e3pXPZlO0/edit?gid=0#gid=0
As Super Bowl weekend begins, former Texas Tech football coach and current Alabama U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville's claims of a close relationship with former Red Raider and current Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes are flatly denied by Mahomes:https://athlonsports.com/college/texas-tech-red-raiders/texas-tech-red-raiders-football-patrick-mahomes-super-bowl-tommy-tuberville-recruiting-comments
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! See a great essay on this year's celebration, happening amidst so much turmoil, and a listing of related events happening across Texas:https://progresstexas.org/blog/black-history-month-2025-celebrating-texas-culture
The early giving period for this year's Amplify Austin Day has begun! Support Progress Texas at https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute.
Progress Texas is now ranked in the top 3% of all podcasts worldwide for listenership - thank you!https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/progress-texas-podcasts-progress-texas-pHdPjbaN-7B/
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Grab your goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there athttps://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work athttps://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
No surprise that the Texas Senate has fast-tracked approval of SB2, Governor Abbott's private school voucher scam, to approval: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/05/texas-senate-school-voucher-vote/
Austin saw hundreds turn out for Texas' share of the national protest against the Trump administration's policies organized in all 50 states yesterday: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/protesters-rally-at-texas-capitol-against-project-2025
...The ACLU of Texas is providing training materials on best practices related to public protest, how to interact with police and immigration officers, and more: https://www.aclutx.org/en/events
...A letter from administrators of Alice, Texas' school district warn parents that their students could face immigration raids on their school buses while traveling through South Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/05/alice-texas-buses-students-citizenship-border-patrol/
Senator John Cornyn taunts protestors in a Facebook post, complete with Indivisible and MoveOn tags, showing complete contempt for half of his constituents in Texas: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Dc2UW9aLw/
Houston U.S. Congressman Al Green plans to introduce articles of impeachment against Donald Trump over his plans for an American takeover of Gaza: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/05/al-green-trump-impeachment-articles-gaza
Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar responds to newbie DFW Congressman Brandon Gill's call for her to be deported, calling him a "dumbass" and a "nepo baby": https://www.chron.com/politics/article/texas-ilhan-omar-20148422.php
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! See a great essay on this year's celebration, happening amidst so much turmoil, and a listing of related events happening across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/black-history-month-2025-celebrating-texas-culture
The early giving period for this year's Amplify Austin Day has begun! Support Progress Texas at https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute.
Progress Texas is now ranked in the top 3% of all podcasts worldwide for listenership - thank you! https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/progress-texas-podcasts-progress-texas-pHdPjbaN-7B/
The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Grab your goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Dallas Rep. Jasmine Crockett was a prominent voice yesterday as lawmakers and civilian protestors rallied against Elon Musk's "hostile takeover" of the financial systems of the U.S. Department of Treasury: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/04/democrats-protest-elon-musk-treasury-washington
...Crockett notes that the Trump administration appears to have little regard for the legality or Constitutionality of their opening moves: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5125167-jasmine-crockett-donald-trump-constitution/
Dallas-area freshman Republican U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill has called for collegue Rep. Ilhan Omar to be deported over her advice to her constituents to know and exercise their rights if confronted by ICE officers: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5126520-freshman-texas-lawmaker-calling-for-deportation-of-ilhan-omar/
Operation Lone Star, despite having little to show for the $11 billion that's been blown on it and an uptick from federal border enforcement, appears to remain a popular and very expensive budget goal for Republicans: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/05/texas-border-security-immigration-spending-operation-lone-star/
A new survey of Texans of both parties finds that very few Texans want to keep marijuana prohibition as it is, with the majority in both parties supporting the decriminalization of personal-use possession: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-marijuana-laws-recreation-2025-legislature/285-db2ece8c-f9cf-4b3f-9ac6-320ea6cc075e
Next door in New Orleans, NFL crews are busily removing the "End Racism" slogan from the Super Bowl field end zones - a move appearing to appease Donald Trump, who will be in attendance on Sunday: https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/nfl/nfl-will-remove-end-racism-end-zones-ahead-super-bowl-rcna190686
Protesting today? Be aware of your surroundings and keep things legal, peaceful and safe: https://apnews.com/article/50501-protests-project-2025-trump-state-capitols-ddd341171a54ba9b498cbfe7530e18ab
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Protests against Donald Trump and Greg Abbott's immigration policies and deportation efforts have begun rising across Texas, including Houston: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/immigration/2025/02/03/512709/hundreds-march-through-west-houston-in-opposition-of-immigration-policy-changes/
...And Conroe: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/immigration-protest-arrests-conroe-texas/285-add40d0c-73a2-466a-a1b8-76358d4861e4
...And Austin: https://www.fox7austin.com/news/anti-ice-protest-north-lamar-rutland-drive-north-austin-texas
...And San Antonio: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/san-antonio-isd-students-organize-walkout-to-protest-threat-of-ice-raids-in-schools-36678048
...And Leander: https://www.fox7austin.com/news/leander-texas-glenn-high-school-students-walkout-protest-ice
...Meanwhile a national protest against Project 2025's implementation by the Trump administration is planned in all 50 states on Wednesday: https://www.newsweek.com/50-states-anti-trump-protest-nationwide-february-5-details-2025300
Governor Greg Abbott, with the blessing of the Trump administation, has given Texas National Guard troops the authority to arrest suspected undocumented immigrants: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/texas-national-guard-arrest-migrants-new-agreement/
Elon Musk's blitzkrieg against American political norms, moving almost to fast to cover, is briefed in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/03/us/politics/musk-federal-government.html
...NBC News: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/elon-musk-doge-usaid-treasury-government-rcna190450
...CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/04/politics/usaid-cuts-thousands-american-jobs/index.html
...More CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/04/politics/musk-washington-chaos/index.html
...Is Donald Trump beginning to grow weary of Musk's dramatic rampage? https://www.axios.com/2025/02/03/trump-musk-usaid-democrats
Is Donald Trump vulnerable to his growing negative polling numbers? The Republican Party sure is: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-approval-rating-start-second-term.html
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Engaged progressives across the Lone Star State know Ground Game Texas as our state's most active advocacy organization in the realm of marijuana decriminalization, with initiatives driven all the way to ballot box success in a wide range of Texas cities, both big and small. You might not know that Ground Game has expanded those winning strategies into the areas of reproductive justice, election integrity, and much more, providing a terrific example of setting and accomplishing specific goals with hard work and sound strategy - just when that example is needed for folks gearing up to resist the budding autocracy and oligarchy of the second Trump term.
Learn more about Ground Game Texas at https://www.groundgametexas.org/.
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Elon Musk and DOGE have been granted access to the highly-sensitive payments system at the heart of the U.S. Treasury Department: https://abcnews.go.com/US/treasury-dept-elon-musks-team-access-federal-payment/story?id=118380399
...Senator Elizabeth Warren, top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, is demanding answers from new Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/03/us/politics/warren-bessent-treasury-musk-doge.html
...Meanwhile, Musk and DOGE have launched an all-out attempt to dismantle and destroy USAid, the U.S. government's primary foriegn aid agency: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/03/elon-musk-says-usaid-is-beyond-repair-and-he-is-working-to-shut-it-down
Governor Greg Abbott laid out seven emergency items in his State Of The State address yesterday - limiting the 89th Legislature to dealing with those items for the rest of the session's first 60 days: https://www.keranews.org/2025-02-02/gov-abbott-lays-out-his-agenda-for-texas-with-emphasis-on-vouchers-water-and-property-taxes
...Outgoing Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa and a gathering of other Texans responded in a pre-recorded video: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/texas-democrats-abbott-doesnt-have-a-clue-about-everyday-citizens-needs/
Next time you get targeted online by MAGA hate, keep in mind that most of that is likely coming from bots: https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/texas-house-speaker-bots-20068116.php
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Donald Trump says he plans to follow through with applying a 25% tariff to all goods imported from Mexico starting Sunday - consumers in border states like Texas will feel the pinch immediately: https://thehill.com/business/5117233-trump-mexico-canada-tariffs-threat/
East Texas freshman GOP State Rep. Brent Money has filed legislation that would define life as beginning at fertilization - rendering illegal IVF, IUD's and Plan B: https://www.lonestarleft.com/p/breaking-brent-money-bill-to-criminalize
...All while hundreds of Texans have been fleeing the state to get abortion care - lately including at least six girls under the age of 12: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/texas-abortion-ban-teens-20047622.php
More puzzlement, considering the massive federal immigration intervention underway, over Texas Republicans' apparent plan to keep staffing and funding Operation Lone Star: https://www.tpr.org/military-veterans-issues/2025-01-30/as-more-federal-troops-deploy-to-the-border-the-fate-of-texas-state-military-mission-is-unclear
...Schools are no longer safe - a Conroe parent is furious that her daughter was grilled for her immigration status by her Spanish teacher: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/conroe-schools-immigration-20065867.php
...Churches are no longer safe, and experts say that's both a tragic backslide into prior historical injustices, and an erosion of the First Amendment: https://www.texasobserver.org/ice-churches-christianity-constitution-trump/
Governor Abbott is set to give a statewide address to outline his legislative priorities on Sunday evening at 5pm: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/31/greg-abbott-state-of-the-state-speech/
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
13 U.S. House Republicans from Texas - more than any other state - are among the 67 members of their party who are co-sponsors of H.R. 722, which would establish a national ban on abortion: https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/722/cosponsors
...More on H.R. 722: https://thistleandmoss.com/p/hr722-the-republicans-try-to-ban?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick's list of his top 25 legislative priorities include prayer and the posting of the Ten Commandments in schools, banning books, and doing away with "Drag Time Story Hour": https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/29/dan-patrick-priorities-texas-senate/
...Private school vouchers are on Patrick's list too, and he insists the Republican voucher plan won't pull funds from Texas public schools: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/lt-gov-dan-patrick-texas-senate-set-to-approve-bill-for-thousands-of-students-to-attend-private-s/
...Should vouchers pass, Texas' private schools are all but certain to raise their tuition rates, as their counterparts in other states with voucher programs have: https://www.lonestarlive.com/news/2025/01/texas-voucher-plan-could-lead-to-higher-private-school-tuition-experts-say.html
A Facebook post by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, highlighting that most of Texas' biggest companies have not yet raised consumer prices in anticipation of Donald Trump's import tariffs, fails to note that almost a third of them have: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18hvHuM39f/
Ted Cruz lies on national TV that "thousands and thousands" of Americans died during the building of the Panama Canal - in fact most of those deaths were of workers from the Carribean, while about 300 were Americans: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/sen-ted-cruz-falsely-claims-thousands-of-americans-died-building-the-panama-canal-36629308
A Lubbock dad of three, working on securing a green card, has been swept up in Trump's deportation sweep after a Lubbock police officer turned him in to ICE during a traffic stop: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/29/texas-immigration-lubbock-police-traffic-stop-ice-deportation/
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Hard to know where to start in evaluating the devastating impacts on Texas that Donald Trump's freeze on federal spending would have: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/28/texas-trump-federal-spending-freeze/
Several Texas Republicans in the U.S. House have presented bills designed to codify recent Trump executive orders into permanent law: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/27/texans-congress-trump-executive-orders/
Austin Congressman Greg Casar is one of 20 House Democrats who have written to Donald Trump, wondering what happened to his promise to lower food prices: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/texas-food-prices-trump-20061041.php
D/FW Republican Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne has filed legislation to end federal financial backing of the development and production of cleaner transportation fuels: https://biomassmagazine.com/articles/texas-lawmaker-introduces-bill-to-repeal-45z-clean-fuel-production-credit
Texas House Minority Leader and Houston Democrat Gene Wu gave a great talk via the Texas Tribune yesterday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWqVKuJy6wU
The Texas Senate Committee on K-12 Education has fast tracked Senate Bill 2, which would establish a private school voucher program, to a full vote in the Senate: https://www.kvue.com/video/news/state/texas-news/texas-school-voucher-plan-advances-sb2-senate-vote-private-school-funding/269-e3372769-b66b-4123-928a-3f326dd6d80d
The head of Israel's World Holocaust Remembrance Center Yad Vashem has criticized Elon Musk for encouraging German citizens to disregard their own fascist past: https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/27/europe/israel-holocaust-memorial-chair-musk-criticism-intl/index.html
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
In spite of renewed federal border control efforts, a very low current flow of migrant traffic at the border, and after $11 billion wasted - Governor Abbott has deployed more Texas National Guard troops to Operation Lone Star: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/texas-gov-greg-abbott-deploys-hundreds-more-troops-texas-mexico-border/
...San Antonio State Rep. Trey Martinez-Fischer is as confused as we are - and wants an audit of Operation Lone Star's expenditures: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/democratic-state-rep-fischer-opposes-gov-abbott-s-deployment-of-400-more-texas-troops-to-the-border/vi-AA1xYyFa
Fort Worth ISD officials are working to identify a North Side High School substitute teacher who posted to Twitter an invitation for ICE to raid that heavily Hispanic-serving school: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/fort-worth-isd-investigating-social-media-comment-calling-for-ice-at-high-school/
Actress and singer Selena Gomez has pulled down an Instagram post expressing her distress at the uptick in deportations, after coming under a massive MAGA attack - including Senator Ted Cruz: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/selena-gomez-raids-cruz-20058899.php
One of the January 6th rioters pardoned by Donald Trump is free despite a request from Texas law enforcement for him to be kept in custody - he's wanted for soliciting sex from a minor, and is now at large: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/january-6-trump-pardons-andrew-taake-b2687340.html
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A variety of federal agencies began "enhanced targeting operations" against, so they claim, undocumented immigrants presenting criminal threats across Texas, including Austin and San Antonio: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/26/texas-immigration-deportation-ice-austin-san-antonio/
...Also in North Texas and the Rio Grande Valley: https://www.keranews.org/news/2025-01-26/ice-begins-immigration-raids-across-texas-dozens-arrested
...Protests against Trump's immigration policies have begun popping up, including one at the Texas State Capitol in Austin: https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/protest-at-texas-capitol-after-ice-operations-in-austin/
...And a bigger one near downtown Dallas: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/protesters-rally-in-north-texas-over-new-immigration-policies/
The Texas Senate has rolled out a school voucher plan that would grant Texas families $10,000 for private school tuition and other expenses - not nearly enough to cover it: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/education-news/2025/01/24/511928/texas-senate-proposes-extensive-school-voucher-like-program-with-1-billion-price-tag/
...While over 20 bills limiting a range of policies regarding vaccines have been filed: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/27/texas-legislature-vaccine-mandate-bills/
Texas transplant Elon Musk, already under fire for his Nazi salute the other day, gave an address via video link at a rally for Germany's notorious far-right AfD party, in which he advocated for Germans to disregard their own fascist history: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/elon-musk-appears-video-german-far-right-campaign-event-2025-01-25/
A list of all 123 January 6 defendants pardoned by Donald Trump with Texas ties has been published: https://patch.com/texas/across-tx/123-jan-6-defendants-tx-pardoned-trump-s-first-official-act
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The Progress Texas staff were pleased to be a part of today's forum of five of the candidates to become the new Chair of the Texas Democratic Party in March. We gathered for a quick post-event recap - enjoy and keep it here for future forums.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Upending over five decades of tradition, but right in line with their anti-democratic MAGA fanaticism, the Republican majority in the Texas House voted yesterday to ban Democrats from chairing committees: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/23/texas-house-republican-committee-chairs/?utm_source=Texas+Tribune+Newsletters&utm_campaign=9a17e04997-trib-newsletters-thebrief&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-9a17e04997-103307619
As the State Bar of Texas unceremoniously drops disciplinary proceedings against Ken Paxton for his false claims during attempts to undermine the 2020 election, our Attorney General is officially above the law: https://apnews.com/article/texas-paxton-2020-election-lawsuit-9ff4bdde238196830a639c3e7d07358e
Even as Republican budgets seek to continue funding Governor Abbott's Operation Lone Star boondoggle to the tune of multiple billions of dollars, the Governor is asking the federal government to reimburse Texas for the $11 billion it has already blown: https://www.fox4news.com/news/texas-greg-abbott-border-security-refund-operation-lone-star
Should Trump follow through with his threat of an across-the-board 25% tariff on Mexican imports, his voters in Texas are set to see prices head the opposite direction than that they voted for: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/article/texas-mexico-trump-tariff-20049363.php
Join us Saturday afternoon at 2 for our livestream of the first in-person Texas Democratic Party Chair candidate forum from the historic LBJ Ranch! We'll cover it via Youtube: youtube.com/@progresstexas
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The welcome challenge to the MAGA distortion of Christianity by Bishop Mariann Budde during the Trump inauguration proceedings casts new light on attempts by Texas GOP lawmakers to force that distorted vision into public life in Texas: https://thebarbedwire.com/2025/01/22/texas-is-on-the-path-to-even-harder-right-christian-supremacy/
Budget drafts submitted yesterday by the House and Senate include billions for private school vouchers, a meager public school teacher pay raise, and NO drawdown of spending on Operation Lone Star: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/22/texas-budget-school-vouchers-teacher-raises-border-security/
...They also include around $10 billion for infrastructure investment, while an independent report places the price tag for keeping up our water infrastructure at $150 billion: https://www.keranews.org/texas-news/2025-01-23/texas-economy-stands-to-lose-billions-of-dollars-without-investments-into-its-water-infrastructure
...Corpus Christi, for example, is resorting to desperate measures to shore up its water supply, all while more and more private industry sucks up more and more of that limited, life-sustaining resource: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/23/texas-corpus-christi-water-emergency-reservoirs/
Texas is failing to provide a system for taking guns away from convicted abusers, falling short of both Federal legal standards and the wishes of the heavily-conservative U.S. Supreme Court: https://www.keranews.org/news/2025-01-23/the-supreme-court-says-domestic-abusers-shouldnt-have-guns-is-texas-listening
Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller has hired back as his chief of staff a man he recently let go after he pled guilty to bribery charges: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/article/sid-miller-todd-smith-20047308.php?utm_source=marketing&utm_medium=copy-url-link&utm_campaign=article-share&hash=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaG91c3RvbmNocm9uaWNsZS5jb20vcG9saXRpY3MvYXJ0aWNsZS9zaWQtbWlsbGVyLXRvZGQtc21pdGgtMjAwNDczMDgucGhw&time=MTczNzYzNTIzODUxOQ%3D%3D&rid=MTAxN2FkY2MtNWNjOS00NDYzLTk3OGYtZTQ4OWJiNTAyMzNl&sharecount=Mw%3D%3D
Join us Saturday afternoon at 2 for our livestream of the first in-person Texas Democratic Party Chair candidate forum from the historic LBJ Ranch! We'll cover it via Youtube: youtube.com/@progresstexas
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
San Antonio is one of the cities said to be in the crosshairs for ICE's renewed push for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/immigration-raids-texas-trump-20046972.php
...The expansion of dentention facilities in Texas and other states - to the benefit of private prison companies - is an integral part of the Trump plan: https://www.tpr.org/border-immigration/2025-01-20/aclu-texas-government-likely-to-cooperate-with-mass-deportation-efforts-expected-under-trump
...People protected by DACA or Temporary Protected Status are implored to keep those protection arrangements up to date: https://www.keranews.org/news/2025-01-22/tps-daca-reapply-north-texas-immigration
...Trump's promised mass deportation presents a reckoning for America on our true humanitarian and ethical self-image: https://www.expressnews.com/opinion/editorial/article/trump-mass-deportations-era-20037685.php
...Governor Abbott and other fans of mass deportation have not been honest with their MAGA voter base on how such a move will undermine the "Texas miracle": https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-gop-anti-immigration-hard-liners-putting-on-a-show/
...Officials in Mexico are concerned that they'll be asked to take deportees from other countries, as well as those who have been ripped away from long-established lives in the U.S.: https://www.texasobserver.org/is-mexico-prepared-for-mass-deportations/
The January 6th insurrectionists have been absolved by Trump via a variety of legal maneuvers: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/20/us/politics/trump-pardons-jan6.html
Over 100 Texans are among those who have recieved clemency and many are on their way home from prison: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/21/texans-insurrection-capitol-trump-pardon/
...One Jan. 6th rioter writes, "We Are In Charge...This Is Our Country": https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/high-profile-jan-6-cases-with-north-texas-ties-pardoned-or-commuted-by-trump/vi-AA1xClCV#details
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Stories we're following at Progress Texas:
Right out of the chute, as promised, a flurry of executive orders from Donald Trump - many of which will face immediate legal challenge: https://apnews.com/article/trump-day-1-executive-orders-3a035a0bbd37b5c12630b92c8c8a9625
We bid godspeed and offer our admiration and gratitude to Cecile Richards, who died yesterday at home at the age of 67: https://thebarbedwire.com/2025/01/20/cecile-richards-did-not-quit-neither-can-we/
Even as border crossings slow to a trickle, Governor Abbott couldn't resist the spectacle (and expense) of deploying more buoys into the Rio Grande this weekend: https://www.fox4news.com/news/texas-border-buoy-rio-grande-immigration
...While Abbott's "border czar" has been picked by Trump to head up the U.S. Border Patrol: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/16/texas-border-patrol-czar-mike-banks/
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick appears to be entertaining the idea of clarifying Texas' anti-abortion laws for the benefit of doctors caring for critical pregnancy patients: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2025/01/20/lt-gov-dan-patrick-says-texas-should-amend-abortion-ban/77839131007/
A new poll shows a distinct lack of zeal for Republican policies among Texas voters, post-election: https://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/blog/uttexas-politics-project-poll-finds-still-simmering-election-concerns-texas-legislature
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Seven employees of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission have been fired under suspicion of breaching the data and stealing the service funds of thousands of low-income Texans who rely on their services: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/17/texas-hhsc-food-stamp-fraud-data-breach/
Amarillo anti-choice activist judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, his court cherry-picked by of officials from Idaho, Kansas and Missouri and in defiance of a recent SCOTUS ruling, has green-lighted those states efforts to scale back access to the abortion drug mifepristone: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/texas-judge-allows-states-to-advance-efforts-to-restrict-access-to-mifepristone/
Christian Nationalist elements in Texas are smarting after an opening day loss in their effort to install Rep. David Cook as House Speaker: https://www.chron.com/culture/religion/article/christian-alt-right-politics-20036423.php
...The effort to Christianize government, should it succeed in Texas, is highly unlikely to stop at the Lone Star State's borders: https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reidout-blog/texas-speaker-vote-christian-nationalists-trump-rcna187869
...State Senator Phil King of northwest D/FW is once again pressing to require the Ten Commandments to be posted in every Texas classroom: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/ten-commandments-texas-schools-20035683.php
...Meanwhile a SECOND North Texas pastor is accused of child sexual abuse, just this month: https://www.keranews.org/news/2025-01-15/another-north-texas-pastor-arrested-on-child-sexual-abuse-charge-court-records-show
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This Saturday, a terrific opportunity to express your frustration and channel your anger over the second Trump inauguration into action arrives with the Women's March in Austin, this Saturday January 18 at 9am, starting from historic Huston-Tillotson University. Lead Organizer Jen Ramos joins us to provide the details on the event, why it's important moving into Trump 2.0, and how you can get involved.
All the info on Saturday's event, which should precede the weather change expected this weekend: https://action.womensmarch.com/events/women-s-march-atx-1
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
President Biden's farewell address include warnings against disinformation actors now set to take power at the federal level: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/15/us/politics/biden-farewell-address.html
...Over the Biden term, Ken Paxton racked up over $6 million in legal bills - on the tab of Texas taxpayers - suing Biden's administration: https://www.axios.com/local/san-antonio/2025/01/16/texas-attorney-general-paxton-lawsuits-biden
...Speaking of Paxton - Austin real estate developer Nate Paul, who was at the center of Paxton's impeachment last year, just pleaded guilty to a federal charge: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/texas-developer-center-attorney-generals-235209867.html
Former Texas Congressman John Ratcliffe, in his Senate confirmation hearing to head the CIA, pledged to avoid political or personal bias in his execution of that job: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/15/john-ratcliffe-cia-trump/
Unsurprisingly, the only two Democrats to vote in favor of banning trans athletes from women's sports were Laredo Rep. Henry Cuellar and McAllen's Vicente Gonzalez: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/transgender-athletes-democrats-20035963.php
Can new Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows be trusted NOT to sideline Democrats as the MAGA wing of his party wants? A look at his background as we ponder: https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/dustin-burrows-house-speaker-20035925.php
...Why did Richardson Democrat Ana-Maria Rodriguez Ramos vote against Burrows after she was eliminated from the Speaker race in the first round? She calls it a protest vote: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/democrat-house-speaker-texas-20036532.php
Action YOU can take NOW: tell the Biden administration to finalize its limits on LNG exports, before climate allies are out of the White House: https://fossil.energy.gov/app/DocketIndex/Docket/Comment?docketId=30
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In this final installment of our series of talks with Democratic lawmakers, coming to you on the first day of the 89th Texas Legislature, we wrap up with Rep. James Talarico of the Austin area, a Williamson County native who was first elected to represent House District 50 in 2018, and survived an attempt by Republicans to draw him out of the picture via redistricting by achieving reelection in District 52. He's a graduate of both the University of Texas and Harvard, and is currently working on a Master of Divinity at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary - Rep. Talarico has become known as a prime resource for understanding progressive ideals through the lens of Christian theology.
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
In defiance of the Texas Republican Party, three dozen House GOP electeds voted along with most of the Democratic minority yesterday to elect Rep. Dustin Burrows of Lubbock House Speaker: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/14/dustin-burrows-david-cook-texas-house-speaker-vote/
Several Democratic House members declined to vote for Burrows, who himself is pretty darn MAGA, while a handful curiously voted for Cook, who had pledged to sideline them in the session: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/14/texas-house-speaker-vote-breakdown/
...Texas GOP leadership is swearing retribution against Burrows and his Republican followers: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/01/14/in-contentious-vote-texas-house-chooses-dustin-burrows-as-speaker/
...That same GOP leadership took part in Christian Nationalist revival-style rallies at the Capitol yesterday, openly denying any separation between church and state: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/15/texas-legislature-christianity-church-state-separation/
...Congratulations to Dallas Rep. Venton Jones and his longtime partner Gregory Scott Jr, who got engaged on the House floor yesterday right after Jones was sworn in: https://x.com/JasonWhitely/status/1879239353865761265
The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments today over a Texas law requiring pornography websites to verify the age of users - a law with much broader implications than just porn: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/pornhub-supreme-court-20034583.php
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:The 89th Texas Legislature opens today! First act in a likely long and dramatic drama: the selection of a House Speaker, which may not go the way anyone thinks: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2025/01/13/jason-villalba-the-texas-speaker-race-can-still-usher-a-surprise/...Ken Paxton, in his zeal to unify Republicans in support of Mansfield Rep. David Cook, ironically supports a lawmaker who supported Paxton's impeachment in 2023: https://www.kvue.com/video/news/politics/texas-legislature/texas-ag-ken-paxton-in-leander-to-support-david-cook-for-texas-house-speaker/269-19634f2b-2da5-4708-be82-e5b92157cfe5Even the wonkiest of wonks might need a little refresher as the notoriously arcane Texas lawmaking process commences: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/13/texas-legislature-2025-bills-laws-how-works/Will Texas expand Medicaid this session? Even that idea's staunchest backers don't think so: https://www.keranews.org/health-wellness/2025-01-07/texas-medicaid-expansion-legislature-republicans-outlookWill Texas enact a private school voucher program? That idea's opponents appear to be more united than its proponents: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/school-vouchers-texas-abbott-20024641.phpWill Texas take significant steps to protect the environment? Enviroment Texas' Luke Metzger sure hopes so: https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2025/01/10/texas-legislature-issues-investing-in-clean-energy-combating-plastic-pollution/Will Texas legalize online sports betting? Lt. Governor Dan Patrick seems uninterested, but is certainly not immune from the influence of billionaires: https://www.lonestarlive.com/life/2025/01/dan-patrick-stands-in-way-of-texas-legalizing-online-sports-betting-despite-growing-support.htmlLoads more to follow - see our Advocacy Department's preview: https://progresstexas.org/preview-2025-texas-maga-legislative-session...And our series of interviews with Democratic lawmakers: https://progresstexas.org/blog/texas-legislative-preview-series-progress-texas-podcastThe merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Grab your goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at @progresstexas.bsky.social.Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Texas State Representative Erin Zwiener of Driftwood, one of the youngest members of the Legislature, has a resume full of fun facts: prior to her political life, she was a contestant on Jeopardy! four times, winning over $53,000. She later got involved with the Indivisible movement after the 2016 Trump win, challenged Republican Rep. Jason Isaac for his seat while she was pregnant, won that year's Democratic primary by less than 200 votes, gave birth during the campaign and eventually beat Isaac with 51% of the vote - she's served in the House ever since.
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Steve Bannon, arguably the master designer of MAGA, has announced intent to "take down" Texas-based billionaire and current Trump puppetmaster Elon Musk: https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/5081681-steve-bannon-says-he-will-take-down-the-truly-evil-elon-musk/
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller may be on a collision course, with Miller opposing Patrick's sworn blanket ban of THC products from Texas: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/texas-agriculture-commissioner-says-regulation-could-be-alternative-to-banning-thc/287-984da04c-6419-4012-9803-c9c2ed88e8a2
...While former Texas Governor Rick Perry goes on the Joe Rogan podcast to push the psychedelic drug ibogaine, which he believes holds promise as a treatment for brain injuries, addiction, and PTSD: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/rick-perry-joe-rogan-ibogaine-20014985.php
Just as the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality or TCEQ brings on a new leader, it's under fire for recent denials of formerly-routine public meetings on emissions permit renewals: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jZAUiocksOMUvQdsKaS7iYL2HUm1leBHUnjY2q8QSj8/edit?tab=t.0
A compound intended to house recently-released January 6th convicts is being built in the Texas Hill Country near Luckenbach: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/planned-sanctuary-for-january-6-prisoners/
The number of people leaving Texas in protest of our political climate and policies is beginning to rival the number of people arriving from elsewhere: https://www.texasmonthly.com/being-texan/meet-10-liberals-who-fled-texas/
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Ken Paxton has filed a second lawsuit against TikTok, alleging that they have far exceeded their stated limits on questionable content being made available to minors, and more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/01/09/texas-sues-tiktok-alleging-platform-is-dangerous-for-minors-enables-harmful-content/
...The platform may not be available in the U.S. for much longer anyway, depending on how a hearing at the U.S. Supreme Court goes today: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/09/ken-paxton-tiktok-minors-explicit-content/
Both of Texas' U.S. Senators, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, have stated their intent to support all of Donald Trump's cabinet picks - including the looniest ones: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/09/texas-senators-cruz-cornyn-trump-cabinet-nominees/
...Cruz is also all in on Trump's dream of annexing Greenland, citing new shipping lanes made available by Arctic ice melting amidst global warming and a wealth of natural resources to be plundered: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/09/ted-cruz-greenland-donald-trump/
A deal being worked on between Governor Abbott and Democratic Houston Mayor John Whitmire to sell Houston's water to parched West Texas falls in line with our state's history of bad ideas regarding water management: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/abbott-whitmire-texas-water-sale-20023172.php
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Senator Nathan Johnson of Dallas is a business attorney and music composer by trade, and has served the people of Senate District 16 since 2018, when he became the first Democrat to take that seat in decades - displacing since-perennial gubernatorial loser Don Huffines.Thanks for listening! Learn more about how you can support our important work at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Austin Chronicle has published a nice, multi-issue preview of the upcoming Legislature, set to begin next Tuesday: https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2025-01-10/with-trump-taking-office-the-texas-lege-is-unleashed/
Pro-Dustin Burrows GOP Rep. Cody Harris of East Texas has filed a complaint against Texas Republican Party Chair Abraham George over the party's plan to block the primary applications of Republicans who fail to back Party favorite David Cook for House Speaker: https://bsky.app/profile/collincountydems.bsky.social/post/3lfbzc5dcd22w
Texas has still not signed up for a $2 billion federal program to feed lower-income kids during summer - but there's still time, so NOW is the time to practice calling your Senator and Representative to let them know you want action: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/09/texas-summer-school-lunch-food-stamp/
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says his company is abandoning its efforts at fact-checking, and moving its content moderation operations to Texas - a move apparently meant to appease Donald Trump: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/07/texas-meta-content-moderators-fact-checking/
...Texas also provides legal cover for social media platforms who prefer to allow falsehoods to spread without limit: https://www.wired.com/story/meta-elon-musks-lead-trust-safety-billionaire-friendly-texas/
Texas remains one of the three states hosting the most organized hate-based and anti-government organizations: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/nearly-100-extremist-groups-operate-in-texas-heres-the-list-21462538
South Texas business leaders are very much concerned about Trump's deportation sweep undermining their operations: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/08/texas-immigration-mass-deportations-economy/
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Attorney General Ken Paxton and Texas Republican Party Abraham George have started a tour of the state designed to intimidate GOP lawmakers into voting for Mansfield Rep. David Cook for Speaker next week: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/paxton-issues-warning-to-texas-house-republicans-in-bitter-speaker-battle/
Elon Musk and Tesla want to hog as much as 8 million gallons of water PER DAY for their new lithium refinery near Corpus Christi - already a desperately dry part of Texas: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/musk-massive-tesla-lithium-plant-110009148.html
Texas Supreme Court Justice Jimmy Blacklock, of "Jimmy John and Jane" fame, has become the new Chief Justice of that body: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/politics/lone-star-politics/gov-abbott-appoints-justice-jimmy-blacklock-as-texas-supreme-court-chief-justice/3734512/
...The Texas Supreme Court, just as winter weather threatens, is also preparing to review thousands of lawsuits against Texas utility companies related to the power disaster during 2021's Winter Storm Uri: https://www.fox4news.com/news/texas-supreme-court-hearing-2021-winter-storm-lawsuits-could-signal-plan-change-ruling
North Texas appears to be the primary target of the incoming polar vortex - monitor the Texas power grid here: https://www.ercot.com/gridmktinfo/dashboards/gridconditions
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Our series of conversations with Democratic lawmakers in Texas continues with State Representative Vikki Goodwin, who is set to begin her fourth term at the Capitol as the 89th Texas Legislature gets underway. Rep. Goodwin has represented parts of Austin, Bee Cave and the Lake Travis area since she flipped her seat from red to blue in 2018. During that time, she's been a strong advocate for progressive priorities regarding public schools, small businesses and health and public safety.
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Today's certification of the election of Donald Trump provides a surreal beginning to a troubling new era: https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/5066046-trump-insurrection-pardons-betrayal/
...Even some Republicans in Congress, at least at this point, appear hesitant about the widespread January 6 pardons Trump has promised: https://apnews.com/article/trump-pardons-congress-capitol-riot-crimes-4443c672fc3b1492640684652647cde6
Navigating between legitimate issues and culture war distraction will fall to Texas progressives as the legislative session starts soon - one legitimate issue is housing, which Republicans will likely use as an excuse to further erode local control in our bigger cities: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/06/texas-legislature-housing-affordability-crisis/
The Texas Supreme Court will hear the case between SMU and the United Methodist Church, in which the university seeks to establish its independence from the church, on January 15: https://www.aol.com/texas-supreme-court-hear-arguments-194022067.html
Texas has neglected our part in funding the federal 988 suicide hotline, resulting in thousands of those desperate calls going unanswered amidst a huge uptick in Texas' suicide rate: https://www.ksat.com/news/texas/2025/01/06/amid-a-7-million-deficit-to-texas-suicide-hotline-thousands-of-calls-are-abandoned-monthly/
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Despite right-wing attempts to drum up anti-immigrant fear over the New Orleans terror attack, the alleged perpetrator was a born and bred native of Texas: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/crime/article/new-orleans-attacker-houston-ties-20010254.php
Elon Musk's push for more foreign tech workers to be brought to the U.S. under H-1B work visas is not only counter to the MAGA base's virulent anti-immigrant tendencies, it would also allow him to build a large tech workforce he'd be able to treat as indentured servants: https://electrek.co/2024/12/30/tesla-replaced-laid-off-us-workers-with-foreign-workers-using-h-1b-visas-that-musk-want-to-increase/
...Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders opposes Musk's plan: https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5064132-sanders-criticizes-musk-h1b-visa/
Collin County State Rep. Mihaela Plesa gets a writeup in the Texas Tribune (and is also featured one click back in this podcast feed: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/03/mihaela-plesa-greg-abbott-texas-house-democrats/
Texas Republicans next frontier in their culture war against women is the elimination of no-fault divorce: https://www.chron.com/culture/religion/article/texas-christians-no-fault-divorce-20009469.php
Two recent decisions may indicate that our institutions may not save us in this new era - first, a Texas Assistant Attorney General gets away with his efforts to undermine the 2020 election: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/12/31/texas-attorney-general-state-bar-lawsuit-dismissed-brent-webster/
...And two Republican U.S. Congressmen get away with what appears to have been inappropriate spending of campaign funds on personal expenses: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/12/30/wesley-hunt-ronny-jackson-investigation/
Our annual rundown of the Top 10 Best And Worst Texans is up! Thanks for your help in compiling this year's list: https://progresstexas.org/blog/best-and-worst-texans-2024
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Collin County Democratic State Rep. Mihaela Plesa - the only Romanian-American elected official in the country! - joins us for our continuing series with state lawmakers on the impending 2025 Lege. Rep. Plesa is one of the youngest elected lawmakers in Texas, and will be entering her second term in the Texas House after becoming the first Democrat to represent her district in decades - she's a Dallas native, known for her hard work in the areas of public education, public safety, heath care, school finance reform and more.
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The passing of President Jimmy Carter at the age of 100 prompts a look back at his impact on Texas, where he remains the last Democrat to have carried the Lone Star State: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/12/29/texas-remembers-jimmy-carter/
Elected leaders of both parties in Texas extol Carter's legacy: https://www.fox7austin.com/video/1568906
More: https://www.kwtx.com/2024/12/29/texas-politicians-react-passing-former-us-president-jimmy-carter/
Our annual rundown of the Top 10 Best And Worst Texans is up! Thanks for your help in compiling this year's list: https://progresstexas.org/blog/best-and-worst-texans-2024
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Richardson State Rep. Ana-Maria Rodriguez Ramos is an educator and family law attorney by trade, but has served in the Texas House ever since she flipped a Republican-held seat in 2018. Since then she has a stalward progressive fighter at the Capitol, advocating for women's rights, LGBTQ+ equality, immigrants' rights, and much more. We welcome Rep. Rodriguez-Ramos back to the pod as part of our series of lawmakers' views on the upcoming Legislature.
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texas transplant Elon Musk, already leading Donald Trump by the nose, has waded into German politics to back the extreme right-wing party AfD: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/20/world/europe/elon-musk-afd-germany.html
The AfD, similar to American MAGA elements, is supported mainly by lower-income and disillusioned Germans: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-12-23/what-s-afd-the-far-right-german-party-elon-musk-embraced
They're in a distant - but growing - second place in Germany's upcoming snap election in February: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-12-24/germany-s-far-right-afd-is-nobody-s-savior
Musk's support for AfD, if patterns hold, is likely a precursor to Donald Trump's support once he is in office next month: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/elon-musk-jd-vance-praise-afd-german-elections-rcna185457
Even Texas Republican Congressman Tony Gonzalez notes (and relishes) Musk's outsized role in the upcoming Trump era: https://www.cbsnews.com/video/rep-tony-gonzales-says-it-feels-as-if-elon-musk-is-our-prime-minister-after-funding-chaos/
Our annual rundown of the Top 10 Best And Worst Texans is up! Thanks for your help in compiling this year's list: https://progresstexas.org/blog/best-and-worst-texans-2024
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Representative Donna Howard has represented Austin in the Texas House since her initial win in 2006 - for almost two decades, she's been a stalwart progressive standard-bearer across every issue imaginable, but in recent years has been notable as a fierce fighter for our reproductive rights, bolstered by her own professional background in nursing and healthcare.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about how you can support our important work as this pivotal session approaches at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Republican Fort Worth U.S. Congresswoman Kay Granger, missing from her post in D.C. since the early summer, has been located under the care of a memory care facility - a situation that her staff appears to have concealed: https://www.wfaa.com/video/news/politics/questions-swirl-after-congresswoman-kay-granger-misses-votes-lives-in-senior-facility/287-08b68494-e13d-47dd-a988-4554e1f8a9fe
Smarting from defeat in the recent government funding fight, expect Donald Trump to take his frustrustions out on lawmakers like Rep. Chip Roy who dared to undermine him on his first attempt in his second term to influence the direction of Congress: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/state/2024/12/20/texas-rep-chip-roy-donald-trump-38-republicans-vote-debt-ceiling-government-shutdown/77106916007/
Yet another billionaire is added to Trump's plutocratic oligarchy as Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta is appointed U.S. Ambassador to Italy: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/12/21/donald-trump-tilman-fertitta-ambassador/
One of America's nastiest coal-fired power plants, south of San Antonio, is set to be converted to solar and battery production: https://electrek.co/2024/12/21/one-of-texas-dirtiest-coal-plants-will-swap-to-solar-with-help-from-us-grant/
The Texas business sector may turn out to be an unlikely ally in the push from public school supporters against private school vouchers in the upcoming session: https://sanantonioreport.org/texas-business-leaders-public-education-funding-vouchers/
Inspiration from Dallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/12/19/jasmine-crockett-dallas-congress-leader-democrat/
Inspiration from Houston State Rep. and new House Minority Leader Gene Wu: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/texas-legislators-gene-wu-houston-demorat-house-leader-aggressive-deals-from-speaker/287-463efeef-002c-492c-b548-0136b8279187
Our annual rundown of the Top 10 Best And Worst Texans is up! Thanks for your help in compiling this year's list: https://progresstexas.org/blog/best-and-worst-texans-2024
Holiday shopping for your progressive pals is easy and fun at our web store! Grab your goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
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Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
This is one of several episodes in a pod series previewing the upcoming 2025 Texas Legislative Session with a range of Democratic lawmakers. Texas State Senator and Senate Minority Leader Carol Alvarado has served in that body since 2018, following a decade of service in the Texas House representing the southeast Houston area. Senator Alvarado is known for her hard work and advocacy in public health, public education, economic development, voting rights (for which she engaged in a 15-hour filibuster in 2021), and notably in recent years the fight to regain and retain our reproductive freedom in Texas.
Thanks for listening! Learn how to support Progress Texas as our important work continues into a certainly-contentious legislative year at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
With each passing hour, a partial shutdown of the federal government during the busy Christmas travel season thanks to Elon Musk and Donald Trump's interference is looking more likely: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-congress-has-two-days-avert-shutdown-after-trump-rejects-spending-bill-2024-12-19/
...Seven Texas Republicans joined the Democrats in voting the hastily-drafted Trump replacement bill down: https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2024516
...Dallas Rep. Jasmine Crockett shares the national consequences of such a shutdown: https://bsky.app/profile/repjasmine.bsky.social/post/3ldowgakbqk2l
...There are significant direct impacts likely for Texans as well: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/government-shutdown-san-antonio-texas-19990762.php
...Elon Musk has become a one-man "rogue state" who is primed to inflict massive damage on American democracy: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/20/elon-musk-is-becoming-a-one-man-rogue-state-its-time-we-reined-him-in
Rep. Crockett and the rest of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability are curious about Texas officials' decision to skip over the data from the irst two years of our state's abortion ban related to maternal mortality: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/12/19/texas-congress-maternal-mortality/
A Texas Tribune analysis shows that after over $3 billion spent or allocated, the Texas border wall is in small sections in remote locations - an almost zero ROI: https://apps.texastribune.org/features/2024/texas-border-wall-greg-abbott-landowners/
Our annual rundown of the Top 10 Best And Worst Texans is up! Thanks for your help in compiling this year's list: https://progresstexas.org/blog/best-and-worst-texans-2024
Holiday shopping for your progressive pals is easy and fun at our web store! Grab your goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at @progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Great fun at The Finch in Mockingbird Station in Dallas earlier this week for the second of our two holiday parties for 2024! Like our first pod from the Austin shindig, settle in and meet our Dallas guests, who had great things to say about determination and courage for Texas progressives as a challenging new chapter begins next month. Our holiday fundraiser was very successful, and we are grateful for ALL of our supporters, including you.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can join the team at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texas transplant Elon Musk, apparently running things for Donald Trump, is pressing Republican members of Congress hard to strike down a stopgap measure that would keep the federal government running over the holidays: https://www.axios.com/2024/12/18/elon-musk-government-shutdown-bill-doge
...Texas Congressman Chip Roy is totally down for a government shutdown for Christmas - he's been gunning for it for years: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/article/chip-roy-gop-budget-cuts-19984456.php
Meanwhile back in Texas, three environmental groups are suing the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, accusing them of ignoring their own rules to give Musk's SpaceX a green light to pollute their Cameron County launching area with abandon: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/spacex-tceq-lawsuit-19988870.php
Convicted - and pardoned - murderer Daniel Perry is trying to weasel out of a misdemeanor charge of deadly conduct connected to his killing of Black Lives Matter protestor Garrett Foster in 2020: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/crime/daniel-perry-court-deadly-conduct/269-5adb9f1b-c9a1-4e42-a94e-61e84f72780c
Holiday shopping for your progressive pals is easy and fun at our web store! Grab your goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at @progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texas transplant Elon Musk has come under scrutiny by multiple federal agencies for his failure to properly disclose his interactions with foreign governments: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/17/technology/elon-musk-spacex-national-security-reporting.html
...Musk is suspected of having failed to provide required information on his meetings with foriegn leaders - and on his own drug use - since at least 2021: https://newrepublic.com/post/189501/elon-musk-federal-review-clearance-rules?utm_campaign=SF_TNR&utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=social&utm_source=Twitter
Add to names like Dunn and Wilks on the list of activist GOP fat cats willing to spend tens millions of their own money to promote hard-right causes Amarillo businessman Alex Fairly, who has it in for House Speaker candidate Dustin Burrows: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/12/17/alex-fairly-texas-republican-political-group/
...In fact, the state GOP is threatening any Texas House Republican who dares to support Burrows with "RINO" smear campaigns in their home districts: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/12/17/texas-republican-party-speaker-race-attack-ads/
...Texas Tribune reporter Robert Downen, who does great work on religion and threats to democracy, is himself profiled in a new interview: https://sojo.net/articles/interview/reconstruct/why-does-religion-journalism-matter-democracy-ask-texas-reporter
...Federal complaints about Texas churches ignoring laws that prohibit them from making political endorsements seem likely to fall on deaf ears under Trump 2.0: https://www.chron.com/culture/religion/article/texas-churches-tax-exempt-status-19986767.php
Holiday shopping for your progressive pals is easy and fun at our web store! Grab your goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at @progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Ken Paxton's lawsuit against a doctor based in New York who prescribed and delivered abortion-inducing drugs to a Texas woman may lead to consequential decisions about how U.S. states regard the laws of other states: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/12/texas-new-york-doctor-abortion-lawsuit-civil-war.html
...New York Governor Kathy Hochul condemns Ken Paxton for attempting to impose Texas' policies on New York's medical professionals: https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/12/16/texas-attacks-n-y-law-attorney-general-ken-paxton-must-fail-in-going-after-new-york-doc-for-abortion-pills/
...All of this likely to end up before the same U.S. Supreme Court that started all of this by overturning Roe V Wade: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/texas-ken-paxton-new-york-abortion-pill-lawsuit-rcna184410
Congratulations to Austin U.S. Congressman Greg Casar, who was recently (and unanimously!) elevated to the leadership position of the Congressional Progressive Caucus: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/12/17/greg-casar-congressional-progressive-caucus-chair/
Holiday shopping for your progressive pals is easy and fun at our web store! Grab your goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
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Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Republican House Rep. Ryan Guillen of Rio Grande City in Starr County is excited that a new concentration facility for migrants rounded up by Donald Trump's deportation operation will provide economic opportunities for his county: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2024/12/16/potential-trump-texas-deportation-partnership-puts-spotlight-on-rural-starr-county/
Ken Paxton has sued a doctor in New York for providing abortion medication to a woman in Texas - a potentially pivotal test of anti-abortion states to impact doctors in pro-choice states with broad implications for telemedicine in general: https://www.reuters.com/legal/texas-ag-sues-new-york-doctor-over-abortion-pill-prescription-2024-12-13/
Paxton is also celebrating putting the brakes on Harris County's second attempt at a guaranteed income program to help its most vulnerable families: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/article/harris-county-ken-paxton-guarenteed-income-19981432.php
...While the Austin City Council sends funding through September to a homeless support center that's been under fire lately by Paxton: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/homeless/sunrise-homeless-navigation-center-funding-austin/269-32e64823-8d05-4b49-ad4d-bd70a69c8883
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick's fury against THC products could end up hurting the small number of Texans who have qualified for medical cannabis via our state's stingy "compassionate use" program: https://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/marijuana-thc-ban-texas-19978031.php
Our second holiday party for 2024 is TONIGHT in Dallas! Individual tickets are on sale here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
Holiday shopping for your progressive pals is easy and fun at our web store! Grab your goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at @progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett has been an elected fighter for Texas progressive people and causes for almost five decades, having become a member of the Texas Senate in 1973, an Associate Justice of the Texas Supreme Court in 1989, and a member of the U.S. House in 1994. Most recently, he's been notable as the first sitting federal official to have called for President Joe Biden to step aside as the Democratic nominee, and has fought against H.R. 9495, a new piece of Republican legislation that would allow President Trump to single-handedly destroy non-profits like the ACLU, the NAACP, and yes, Progress Texas, simply for expressing views that are counter to Trump's MAGA plans. We appreciate Rep. Doggett for his years of service, which continue into a particularly precarious time for American democracy.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about how you can help Progress Texas counter the conservative disinformation machine at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texas transplant Elon Musk, hard at work trying to slash federal jobs and your Social Security benefits, is also keeping hundreds of millions of dollars that his Musk Foundation is required by law to convert to charitable donations: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/12/us/politics/musk-foundation-taxes-donations.html
...Musk's efforts at DOGE jeopardize the careers of hundreds of thousands of federal workers in Texas, a great many of whom certainly voted for Donald Trump: https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/elon-musk-trump-doge-19974216.php
...Fellow billionaire (and supposed Trump oppenent) Jeff Bezos is set to give $1 million to the President-elect's inaugural fund - further demonstrating the struggle lines not between left and right, but between top and bottom: https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/jeff-bezos-amazon-plans-to-donate-1-million-to-trumps-inauguration-dc3705ac
Advocacy orgs supporting migrant across Texas have begun advising them to prepare their children and assets for their eventual deportation: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/12/13/texas-mass-deportation-plan-immigrants/
...While right-wing militia groups have begun volunteering their services in Trump's roundup of undocumented workers and families: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/11/us/politics/far-right-militias-border-trump.html
Texas is at the top of a new ranking of states with the most to gain in revenue from legalizing marijuana - we're leaving almost $500 million on the table, every year: https://cannabis.net/blog/news/how-much-money-could-your-state-make-by-legalizing-weed-5-billion-in-tax-revenue-up-for-grabs-i
Great to see everyone at our first holiday gathering in Austin! The second is in Dallas on December 16 - there are sponsorship opportunities available, and individual tickets are now on sale here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
Holiday shopping for your progressive pals is easy and fun at our web store! Grab your goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at @progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A new academic study shows that Republicans are much more likely to spread information that they know to be false than Democrats are: https://www.ama.org/2024/12/09/study-republicans-respond-to-political-polarization-by-spreading-misinformation-democrats-dont/
A judgement of over $14 million against ExxonMobil for violations of the federal Clean Air Act at their Baytown facilities is upheld: https://environmentamerica.org/texas/media-center/release-fifth-circuit-court-of-appeals-rules-against-exxon-for-fourth-time-affirms-record-clean-air-act-penalty/
A medical student at UT Austin - a first generation immigrant herself - writes on the dilemma that new doctors face in taking the Hippocratic Oath to do no harm under Texas' requirement for hospitals to interrogate patients on their immigration status: https://www.statnews.com/2024/12/12/texas-hospitals-are-you-a-citizen-medical-school-physicians/
...While Texas hospitals are part of a national trend of new mothers being reported to authorities when the drugs used to control pain during childbirth are found in the bloodstreams of their babies: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2024/12/11/pregnant-hospital-drug-test-medicine
Submit your nominations for our annual rundown of The Best And Worst Texans of the year! Deadline is the end of the day Friday: https://progresstexas.org/blog/best-worst-texans-2024-help-us-decide
Great to see everyone at our first holiday gathering in Austin! The second is in Dallas on December 16 - there are sponsorship opportunities available, and individual tickets are now on sale here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
Holiday shopping for your progressive pals is easy and fun at our web store! Grab your goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at @progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texas GOP machine choice David Cook and establishment-defying Dustin Burrows both claim to have enough votes to become Speaker of the Texas House - Burrows in particular is flirting with disaster: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/dustin-burrows-david-cook-texas-house-speaker-19971639.php
...Burrows has started calling himself "Speaker-elect", drawing legal scrutiny from his opponents: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2024/12/11/dustin-burrows-david-cook-texas-republican-state-election-code-house-speaker-elect/76889871007/
Much to review in advance of the 2025 Lege - our Advocacy department has gotten that look ahead going: https://progresstexas.org/preview-2025-texas-maga-legislative-session
...The Texas Health and Human Services Commission, known for their incompetence bordering on cruelty towards lower-income Texans, is seeking hundreds of millions of additional dollars next year: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/12/11/texas-medicaid-food-stamps-application-legislature/
...Statewide electeds (yes, Republicans) have joined cannabis advocates and businesses in pushing back against Lt. Governor Dan Patrick's promised push to ban all THC products: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/thc-ban-texas-19964213.php
...One Republican lawmaker wants to deploy drones armed with pepper spray in the hallways of Texas schools: https://www.expressnews.com/opinion/editorial/article/texas-bill-drones-pepper-spray-school-security-19963801.php
...And another Republican lawmaker wants to stop the sale of sex toys by mainstream retailers like Wal-Mart and CVS: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/sex-toy-sales-texas-illegal-19971679.php
Great to see everyone at our first holiday gathering in Austin! The second is in Dallas on December 16 - there are sponsorship opportunities available, and individual tickets are now on sale here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
Holiday shopping for your progressive pals is easy and fun at our web store! Grab your goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at @progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The struggle within the Texas Republican Party has become a contest of "Trumpier than thou": https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5030621-texas-house-speaker-race-republican-divisions/
The 2025 Legislature is certain to face a renewed push for book-banning by pearl-clutching Republicans: https://www.expressnews.com/opinion/editorial/article/texas-book-review-bill-19969058.php
Dallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett puts on yet another masterclass in destroying MAGA narratives, this time taking on the gerrymandering that allowed the GOP to exploit the mostly non-white population explosion in Texas: https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reidout-blog/jasmine-crockett-census-2030-redistricting-rcna183247
Given their sky-high prediction of an 80% chance of blackouts this winter should we experience another Uri-style event, ERCOT and Texas Republicans have presided over a massive degradation in our state's energy reliability: https://www.forbes.com/sites/edhirs/2024/12/09/after-four-years-and-billions-of-dollars-the-texas-grid-is-not-fixed/
Great to see everyone at our first holiday gathering in Austin! The second is in Dallas on December 16 - there are sponsorship opportunities available, and individual tickets are now on sale here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
Holiday shopping for your progressive pals is easy and fun at our web store! Grab your goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at @progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Lubbock State Rep. Dustin Burrows has defied the House GOP Caucus, announcing that he has enough votes from both parties to win the race for Speaker - despite the Republicans officially nominating Mansfield Rep. David Cook: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/12/07/texas-house-speaker-david-cook-dustin-burrows/
Austin U.S. Rep. Greg Casar has been elected to lead the Congressional Progressive Caucus: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/u-s-rep-greg-casar-to-lead-progressive-caucus-says-dems-must-recenter-workers/ar-AA1vlTsW
Texas is already a shambles when it comes to healthcare coverage, and expected Medicaid cuts under Donald Trump are likely to make the suffering of low-income Texans even worse: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/12/04/trump-medicaid-cuts-texas-residents/
Travis County Constable Stacy Suits demonstrates the true nature of Christian teachings, stepping up to defend an Austin homeless service center under attack by Ken Paxton: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/homeless/austin-constable-sunrise-homeless-navigation-center-fundraiser/269-f015c4ae-fdb9-4eeb-a2fc-06e298539c41
Great to see everyone at our first holiday gathering in Austin! The second is in Dallas on December 16 - there are sponsorship opportunities available, and individual tickets are now on sale here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
Holiday shopping for your progressive pals is easy and fun at our web store! Grab your goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at @progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
We enjoyed being back with our friends at Antone's in downtown Austin last week for the first of our two holiday parties this year! This pod features short conversations with a bunch of our guests, offering words of wisdom and encouragement for all of us as we get ready for the fight ahead. THANKS to everyone who came out!
And, we'll do it again at our second holiday party in Dallas on Monday, December 16! Sponsorships and individual tickets are available here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can join the team at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
New figures reveal that Texas transplant Elon Musk spent over $250 million - over a quarter-billion dollars - to help put Donald Trump back in office: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/05/us/politics/elon-musk-trump-rbg-election.html
...Musk's Twitter has harbored four virulent and influential literal Nazi accounts, three of which are revealed to have Texas ties - one of them is a VP for J.P. Morgan Chase in Plano: https://www.texasobserver.org/revealed-operators-neo-nazi-x-accounts/
New Democratic minority leader Rep. Gene Wu's work is cut out for him - he must unite his caucus to maximize their influence on the selection of next session's Speaker: https://www.keranews.org/texas-news/2024-12-06/texas-house-democrats-pick-rep-gene-wu-as-caucus-chair-what-does-this-mean-for-the-speakers-race
...Hopefully that also spells influence over the likely-radical Republican agenda next year, which may include an attempt to kill no-fault divorce: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article296585124.html
...And an ever-more-ruthless agenda aimed at erasing transgender people from public life altogether: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/texas-anti-trans-bills-19962055.php
...See a talk on the struggle looming next year for the Texas LGBTQ+ community held recently at the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqjn-Qs2CMk
Great to see everyone at our first holiday gathering in Austin! The second is in Dallas on December 16 - there are sponsorship opportunities available, and individual tickets are now on sale here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
Holiday shopping for your progressive pals is easy and fun at our web store! Grab your goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at @progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Congratulations to State Rep. Gene Wu, who has been chosen as the new leader of the Democratic minority in the Texas House: https://www.expressnews.com/politics/texas/article/gene-wu-texas-house-democrats-19960489.php
Not only is an extreme weather event in Texas more likely than usual this winter, but if it happens, there's an 80% chance of blackouts: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/weather/article/texas-winter-snow-storm-blackouts-19959189.php
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick is much more concerned about keeping THC products out of Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/12/04/texas-thc-ban-dan-patrick-delta-8-9-hemp/
Trump immigration henchmen Tom Homan is pointing to Governor Abbott's Operation Lone Star as a model he wants to replicate across the country: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/04/us/texas-abbott-trump-border.html
...While Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar claims that buoys in the Rio Grande to stop (and drown) migrants was actually his idea: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/12/04/henry-cuellar-texas-rio-grande-border-buoys-immigration/
Deer Park Rep. Briscoe Cain's idea for a state takeover of Austin's city government is not only goofy, it also has no chance of actually passing: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/politics/texas-legislature/state-lawmakers-bill-state-run-austin-turn-city-district-hb274-districtofaustin/269-af7bed7f-38db-4d94-95ae-4e748bb31ecc
Great to see everyone at our first holiday gathering in Austin! The second is in Dallas on December 16 - there are sponsorship opportunities available, and individual tickets are now on sale here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
Holiday shopping for your progressive pals is easy and fun at our web store! Grab your goodies at https://store.progresstexas.org/.
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at @progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Both the Texas House Democratic Caucus and their Republican counterparts meet late this week to discuss who the 2025 Speaker will be - the Democrats hold the key, as neither Republican candidate has a clear majority: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/texas-house-speaker-race-19953807.php
Expect the continued and escalating assault on the rights of transgender Texans to be the central social issue of the session for Republicans, emboldened by the Trump win: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/12/04/texas-transgender-restrictions-legislative-session/
The Texas Maternal Morbidity Committee's decision to ignore data regarding maternal deaths in the first two years of Texas' abortion ban - alongside a similar move in Georgia - is drawing national attention: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/texas-georgia-women-deaths-abortion-ban-rcna182540
...The Dallas Morning News Editorial Board is calling on Governor Abbott and the '25 Legislature, if they really believe our abortion laws are sufficient to protect pregnant people, to order a study of those first two years: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2024/12/04/texas-needs-a-study-on-how-abortion-ban-has-affected-pregnancy-care/
ERCOT's lead meteorologist says conditions this winter look favorable for a repeat of Winter Storm Uri, but energy experts don't agree with ERCOT's claim that they're ready to keep the heat on: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/texas/ercot-extreme-cold-event-winter-outlook/269-4fb29d16-01cd-4479-a830-7ee329d2c142
Great to see everyone at our first holiday gathering in Austin! The second is in Dallas on December 16 - there are sponsorship opportunities available, and individual tickets are now on sale here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at @progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
As the nation prepares for Trump 2.0, in Texas we're bracing for another nutty Texas Legislative session, where Republicans will be pressing the crazy on a variety of issues, including immigration: https://www.npr.org/2024/12/01/nx-s1-5203015/immigration-will-be-under-the-spotlight-in-the-upcoming-legislative-session-in-texas
...And reproductive freedom and maternity care: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/texas-bill-wants-to-make-abortion-pills-schedule-iv-drugs-21160287
...And Austin's very existence as a self-governed municipality: https://bsky.app/profile/chrismosser.bsky.social/post/3lcfivsqtic2f
...And giving Ken Paxton the power to target "election fraud", the return of the Bathroom Bill, banning any mention whatsoever to sexual orientation at public schools. Meanwhile, Democrats want to legalize cannibis for medical use, give the Legislature a chance to override vetos by the Governor, repeal the ban on DEI at our state colleges, and maintain humane temperatures inside Texas prisons: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/texas-lawmakers-get-their-bills-in-19946648.php
Bad environmental news, as the Texas Railroad Commission is exploring the use of toxic produced water from the fracking process to irrigate food crops: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/03122024/west-texas-recycled-oilfield-water-drought-solution/
..And good environmental news (we think) as Texas appears in prime position for future hydrogen production: https://abcnews.go.com/US/texas-big-producer-green-hydrogen-researchers/story?id=116372254
The first of our two annual holiday fundraising parties is tonight (Tuesday 12/3) in Austin, and the second is in Dallas on December 16! There are sponsorship opportunities available, and individual tickets are now on sale: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at @progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Texas Maternal Morbidity Committee has announced that they will skip the data from the first two years of Texas' near-complete abortion ban, ignoring the effect of that ban on pregnant women in Texas: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/texas-maternal-mortality-committee-to-skip-over-full-reviews-in-years-after-abortion-ban/
...Any other deaths directly attributable to the denial of emergency medical care in Texas are now likely to remain unknown: https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/world/worried-experts-concerned-as-texas-board-declines-to-investigate-abortion-ban-deaths/ar-AA1uMLgf
...Meanwhile, more and more OB-GYN doctors are choosing not to take the risk of practicing in Texas: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/12/02/the-texas-ob-gyn-exodus
Texas isn't the only Southern state now pushing the limits of the separation of church and state when it comes to education: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bible-in-public-schools-church-state-religion-rcna181934
...A highly conservatively biased op-ed from the chair of the Texas State Board of Education celebrates and illuminates the priority of patriotism and "values" over facts in the new Bluebonnet Learning curriculum: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2024/12/02/board-of-ed-chair-america-needs-the-texas-bluebonnet-learning-curriculum/
...Conroe ISD serves as a great example of what happens when progressives fail to pay attention to run for their local school boards: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/mama-bears-conroe-isd-19944683.php
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available and individual tickets are now on sale: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at @progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Donald Trump's new threat of a 25% tariff on Mexican imports have consumers and business owners in South Texas concerned for the future: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/26/donald-trump-tariffs-texas-border-economy/
...Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum doesn't appear ready to give in to Trump, threatening tariffs of her own: https://apnews.com/article/mexico-tariffs-trump-retaliate-sheinbaum-fac0b0c6ee8c425a928418de7332b74a
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is all in on Trump's tariffs - and on raw milk, the latest risky reaction of the right against science: https://www.chron.com/news/article/texas-raw-milk-sid-miller-19941180.php
Need a Thanksgiving weekend project? Fire up an account on BlueSky, and find Progress Texas once you're there: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/technology/bluesky-social-media.html
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available and individual tickets are now on sale: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at @progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Propublica is reporting on a third Texas woman who died needlessly after being denied abortion care in the midst of a problem miscarriage: https://www.propublica.org/article/porsha-ngumezi-miscarriage-death-texas-abortion-ban
...Domestic violence shelters are reporting an uptick in pregnant women arriving at their facilities seeking refuge from abusive partners: https://www.tpr.org/public-health/2024-11-25/domestic-violence-shelters-in-texas-see-a-surge-of-pregnant-women-after-the-dobbs-decision
...The anti-choice movement, oblivious to the suffering they are causing, is ramping up their efforts against doctors and advocates for reproductive rights: https://www.chron.com/culture/religion/article/texas-abortion-pro-life-state-19941596.php
Governor Greg Abbott has a minor freakout over a Houston doctor reminding Texans that they do not have to answer questions about their immigration status at hospitals: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/viral-doctor-texas-hospitals-19941817.php
...Trump "border czar" Tom Homan will tour that Starr County ranch offered up by Texas to host a mass detention facility for rounded-up undocumented people: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/politics/lone-star-politics/texas-leaders-meet-incoming-trump-border-czar/3706114/
The Texas Tribune - a non-profit news outlet - interviews U.S. House Rep. Vicente Gonzales, who recently voted in favor of a new law that would allow Donald Trump to unilaterally shut down non-profit news outlets: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/26/texas-vicente-gonzalez-congress-democrats-abortion-transgender/
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available and individual tickets are now on sale: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at @progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Leaders of the Texas construction industry - who are curiously mostly left out of right-wing panic over immigration - say their sector is existentially threatened by Donald Trump's mass deportation plan: https://www.tpr.org/economy-and-labor/2024-11-23/trumps-deportation-vow-alarms-texas-construction-industry
The Texas State Board of Education approved the adoption of Bluebonnet Learning, the state-crafted elementary school curriculum that makes liberal use of Bible studies: https://www.keranews.org/education/2024-11-22/texas-state-board-education-sboe-approves-bible-story-curriculum-public-schools
...What takes root in Texas will tend to spread elsewhere: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/22/us/bible-curriculum-public-schools-texas-approved.html
...See excerpts from some of the Bible stories incorporated into Bluebonnet Learning: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2024/11/21/read-excerpts-of-what-texas-lessons-may-include-about-the-bible-christianity/
Ken Paxton has targeted an advertising group that Elon Musk has sued for directing its business away from Twitter: https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/21/texas-ag-opens-investigation-into-advertising-group-that-elon-musk-sued-for-boycotting-x/
...John Cornyn becomes a founding member of the Senate Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE Caucus: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/cornyn-musk-vivek-doge-trump-19938477.php
...Musk's SpaceX faces a ramp-up of environmental activist opposition, who are presuming the company will face far less regulation and enforcement under Donald Trump: https://www.npr.org/2024/11/22/1214662580/spacex-starship-texas-environment
...Allegations surface that Musk once exposed himself to a SpaceX flight attendant and tried to bribe her into sex with an offer to buy her a horse (?!): https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-paid-250000-to-a-flight-attendant-who-accused-elon-musk-of-sexual-misconduct-2022-5
Among the giant pile of culture-war bills filed for the 2025 legislative session, a new push to reclassify abortion-inducing drugs as controlled substances: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/25/abortion-texas-pills-controlled-substance/
...Dozens of bills targeting transgender Texans: https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/republicans-file-32-anti-trans-bills
...And of course, a renewed push for private school vouchers: https://www.fox7austin.com/news/texas-school-vouchers-choice-fight
...Which, we're reminded, will mainly help wealthy families who are already paying for private school: https://www.expressnews.com/opinion/commentary/article/voucher-fight-texas-19936562.php
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available and individual tickets are now on sale: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
Project 2025 is no longer a warning: it's now the playbook of the next American administration: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at @progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Coming off this year's election, if you're a progressive voter who's now dreading having to interact with your MAGA relatives back home this holiday season, you're far from alone - "mixed" families such as these are probably more common in Texas than in most parts of the country. Peace and family harmony is important - but, so are the positions we believe in and advocate for year-round. So, how to manage? We've invited a couple of our favorite recurring guests for a fun exchange of strategies on navigating family during a time of great political tension: Lana Hansen is Executive Director of Texas Blue Action, and Austin Kaplan heads up the Kaplan Law Firm and is also part of the legal team supporting the plaintiffs in the Zurawski v Texas case.
No political gymnastics or jousting involved in our upcoming holiday parties, which provide a rare and needed opportunity to gather with fellow Texas progressives and start sharing ideas for the fight ahead next year. We'll be in Austin on December 3, and Dallas on December 16! Sponsorships and individual tickets are on sale now - find out more at https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
H.R. 9495, narrowly defeated in the U.S. House last week, passed in that body on a second try yesterday largely on partisan lines: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2024/11/21/treasury-secretary-house-bill-nonprofit-organization/76468156007/
...Crossing the partisan line to support the undermining of non-profits like Progress Texas were once again three Texas House Reps: Colin Allred, Vicente Gonzalez and Henry Cuellar: https://newrepublic.com/post/188693/15-democrats-give-trump-powers
Ken Paxton, hoping Donald Trump might hear him on Steve Bannon's show, campaigned hard but unsuccessfully for the Dear Leader's favor - he was passed over yet again for the U.S. Attorney General nomination by the younger and prettier Pam Bondi of Florida: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4695344-texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-fbi-gestapo-steve-bannon/
...Paxton did find time to add Dallas to the growing list of Texas cities he's sued over their local marijuana decriminalization measures: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5003589-texas-ag-suing-dallas-over-marijuana-ballot-measure/
Austin U.S. Reps Lloyd Doggett and Greg Casar outline the battlefield ahead for Trump 2.0: https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2024-11-22/as-austins-democratic-congressmen-return-to-washington-theyre-ringing-alarm-bells/
The exodus from X, which we will always call Twitter, continues as alternative platforms like BlueSky and Threads continue to report huge user gains: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/x-sees-largest-user-exodus-musk-takeover-rcna179793
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available and individual tickets are now on sale: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
Project 2025 is no longer a warning: it's now the playbook of the next American administration: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at @progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Trump's "border czar" Tom Homan expresses glee that he'll have over a thousand acres in Texas upon which to crowd the detainees he plans to round up in the "biggest mass deportation in history": https://thehill.com/regulation/national-security/5001566-tom-homan-says-trump-admin-will-absolutely-use-gifted-texas-land-for-deportation-program/
...The resistance of Democratically-led states and cities to Trump's roundup may lead to the "concentration" of these arrestees in red states like Texas: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c87xqwd71wzo
...Let's recall Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham's past experience serving on the board of a bogus college known for ripping off veterans and leaving them buried in debt with useless degrees: https://www.texasgopvote.com/education/dawn-buckingham-candidate-resume-fraud-file-008818
Several bills have been filed for next year's legislative session by Republicans looking to limit the development of renewable energy facilities, including battery storage: https://bsky.app/profile/philjankowski.bsky.social/post/3lbfetozqus24
We join President Biden in saluting Texas heroine Cecile Richards, who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House yesterday: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-awards-medal-freedom-former-planned-parenthood-president/story?id=116067740
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available and individual tickets are now on sale: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
Project 2025 is no longer a warning: it's now the playbook of the next American administration: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at @progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
David Pepper is a renowned political writer and the former Chair of the Ohio Democratic Party. He's written several books that are highly instructive for the current political moment as we prepare for Trump 2.0 - and Ohio has a lot in common with Texas when it comes to being overrun by opportunistic Republicans. How both of our states have fallen victim to GOP gerrymandering, how Donald Trump will try to use the same tactics to entrench his power and enrich his friends, and what we can do about it - for now, all in this great talk.
David's video on how removing the accountability of elections via gerrymandering paves the way for corruption: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDiQQHbYhHg
David's latest book: https://a.co/d/19av1wV
Thanks for listening - and please join us for one of our two upcoming holiday parties in Dallas and Austin! They're a great way to shake off the post-election funk, find your people, plug in and get active - now's the perfect time. Tickets and sponsorships: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Texas General Land Office has offered up a 1,400 acre Starr County ranch to the Trump administration for the building of a huge detention facility for undocumented immigrants rounded up in the planned "largest mass deportation in American history": https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/19/texas-border-starr-county-ranch-trump-deportation/
...Will this facility match the formal definition of a "concentration camp"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concentration_camp
The Texas State Board of Education, after a delay caused by hours of public testimony, voted 8 to 7 to advance the approval of Bluebonnet Learning, new state-crafted elementary school teaching materials riddled with Bible stories, to a final vote for approval on Friday: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/texas-board-advances-plan-bible-material-elemetary-school-116023638
...School districts won't be required to use it, but will be offered a financial incentive to do so - possibly an irresistable funding lifeline for districts on the verge of financial ruin: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/19/texas-sboe-bible-christianity-curriculum/
Propublica provides background on their reporting on those two young Texas women who died after being denied miscarriage care, which has led to a new push for change at the Legislature: https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-abortion-ban-exceptions-deaths
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available and individual tickets are now on sale: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
Project 2025 is no longer a warning: it's now the playbook of the next American administration: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at @progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Trump's plan to deploy American military forces in the effort to deport millions of undocumented immigrants would have a major presence in Texas: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/18/us/politics/trump-military-mass-deportation.html
...U.S. Rep. Chip Roy disagrees with the rosy assessment of fellow GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales, that Trump's dragnet will spare workers and grandmas - Roy wants them all out: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/18/tony-gonzales-chip-roy-trump-mass-deportations-feud/
Major MAGA figures from Texas, including Ken Paxton and Dan Patrick, have thus far been snubbed in the Trump power sweepstakes: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/19/texas-florida-trump-republican-rivalry-paxton-gaetz/
Senator John Cornyn is among a group of GOP Senators who want to see that House Ethics Committee report on Matt Gaetz - will the Senate be Trump's rubber stamp, or not? https://www.reuters.com/world/us/republican-senator-cornyn-absolutely-wants-see-matt-gaetz-ethics-report-2024-11-14/
That State Board of Education vote on the adoption of Bluebonnet Learning, the new state elementary school curriculum riddled with Bible stories, was punted from yesterday to today amidst hours of public testimony: https://foxsanantonio.com/newsletter-daily/texas-education-board-delays-vote-on-controversial-curriculum
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available and individual tickets are now on sale: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
Project 2025 is no longer a warning: it's now the playbook of the next American administration: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at @progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Texas State Board of Education is set to vote today on the adoption of "Bluebonnet Learning", public school materials developed under a new Texas law that allows the frequent use of Christian Bible lessons: https://communityimpact.com/austin/south-central-austin/texas-legislature/2024/11/15/texas-board-of-education-to-vote-on-first-state-developed-textbooks-nov-18/
...TEA Commissioner Mike Morath has testified that these Bible lessons have been supported by research showing they improve test scores and vocabulary - critics aren't buying that: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/texas-sboe-to-hear-final-comments-on-controversial-bible-filled-curriculum
...These lessons also commonly omit difficult aspects of history laying bare the history of racism in America - literally whitewashing social studies lessons for young learners: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/18/texas-curriculum-history-social-studies-slavery-racism/
...All of this at a moment when other right-wing ideas related to education - private school vouchers, DEI elimination, and more - stand to spread from Texas nationwide as Donald Trump threatens to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/education/2024/11/18/texas-education-under-donald-trump-school-vouchers-dei-title-ix/76255844007/
...Oklahoma's not waiting around for our lead - their state education superintendent sent out a video last week decrying "woke teachers unions" and announcing a new Department of Religious Freedom and Patriotism, complete with an on-camera prayer and mandatory viewing for all Oklahoma public school students: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bc-us-religious-freedom-office-oklahoma_n_6738e2bae4b0520a467732ca
Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales of San Antonio went on national TV to express confidence that Donald Trump's "biggest mass deportation operation in American history" will somehow spare beloved abuelitas and vital workers: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/country-built-fleeing-persecution-rep-tony-gonzales-focus/story?id=115933940
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available and individual tickets are now on sale: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
Project 2025 is no longer a warning: it's now the playbook of the next American administration: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at @progresstexas.bsky.social.
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Amidst a disastrous election cycle for progressives, it turns out that most of the candidates running for school board seats on book-banning platforms lost: https://www.lonestarlive.com/news/2024/11/most-texas-school-board-candidates-who-support-book-bans-lost-their-elections.html
...Not that MAGA types are giving up on their war on Texas' LGBTQ+ communities: https://www.advocate.com/politics/republican-gloats-lgbtq-studies-texas-ended
Regretting your vote for Donald Trump after this crazy week? No, you can't take it back: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/article295561044.html
Messages on abortion rights, for whatever reason, did not connect with or influence voters in Texas significantly: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/14/abortion-fails-to-turn-texas-voters/
...While Amarillo provides a case study on communities that voted both in favor of abortion rights, AND to return Trump to office: https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/amarillo-texas-abortion-election/
Progressives now face the challenge of connecting to and persuading fans of the "manosphere" - Trump appears to have done a much better job than Harris did: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/13/us/politics/trump-gen-z-influencers-democrats.html
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available and individual tickets are now on sale: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
Project 2025 is no longer a warning: it's now the playbook of the next American administration: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Senator John Cornyn, betrayed by Ted Cruz, after a half-million dollar campaign contribution, came in second in the race for Senate Majority Leader, with Scott coming in dead last: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/john-cornyn-senate-majority-texas-19912686.php
Elon Musk backed Scott as well, who was cut on the first vote - perhaps undermining Musk's perception of extensive influence over the Senate or over Trump: https://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/lawrence-trump-humiliates-elon-musk-by-telling-house-gop-elon-won-t-go-home-224415813970
...Musk's toothless assignment from Trump, were it given teeth, would immediately put him into violation of multiple ethics laws: https://apnews.com/article/trump-elon-musk-doge-tesla-spacex-80fa8b213b46460b1a0e369dc07a6404
...Ken Paxton's on the loser's list too, having been beaten out for Attorney General by none other than Matt Gaetz: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/cornyn-paxton-skipped-for-leadership-in-trumps-washington/
...Alex Jones' conspiracist Infowars network has been bought at auction by the satirical news outlet The Onion, with help from the families of the Sandy Hook school shooting victims: https://politicalwire.com/2024/11/14/the-onion-acquires-infowars/
Multiple bills attacking and attempting to shield the Texas LGBTQ+ community have been filed for next year's session: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/first-lgbtq-related-bills-of-2025-session/
...Pride activists in fast-growing Princeton, Texas are in building conflict with that former small town's leadership: https://www.texasobserver.org/pride-and-prejudice-in-princeton/
Progress Texas extends our heartfelt thanks to the ten Texas Democrats in the U.S. House who voted to protect political non-profits this week: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1856795812396761289
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available and individual tickets are now on sale: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
Project 2025 is no longer a warning: it's now the playbook of the next American administration: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Harsh facts face families with undocumented members in Texas as preparations begin for Donald Trump's promised deportation of millions: https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2024/11/13/trumps-mass-deportation-plan-fact-vs-fiction-whats-next-for-texas/
Advocacy organizations like the ACLU and RAICES are up against a relentless and uncaring opponent with limitless resources: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/texas-trump-anti-immigrant-policies-pave-rocky-path-for-advocates-21045574
Elon Musk will share the leadership of a new Department Of Government Efficiency (or "DOGE"), tasked with slashing the operations and staffing of the federal government: https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/12/politics/elon-musk-vivek-ramaswamy-department-of-government-efficiency-trump/index.html
Over 1,000 bills were filed yesterday by Texas lawmakers on the first day they could do so: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/12/texas-legislature-bills-filing/
...One bill is designed to strike antiquated restrictions on LGBTQ+ freedom from the Texas books: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4987265-texas-democrats-revive-effort-to-repeal-states-ban-on-gay-sex/
A bill in the U.S. House that would have given Trump the power to single-handedly crush non-profit organizations died yesterday after an effort by the ACLU: https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-urges-house-to-kill-bill-that-could-give-trump-admin-power-to-crush-dissent-and-go-after-political-enemies
...But not without the support of 52 Democrats, including Colin Allred: https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2024458?RollCallNum=458&BillNum=H.R.9495
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available and individual tickets are now on sale: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
Project 2025 is no longer a warning: it's now the playbook of the next American administration: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Tom Homan, an associate of Governor Abbott and a fellow at the Heritage Foundation, has been picked by Donald Trump to head up his promised mass roundup of immigrants once he takes office: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/trump-tom-homan-texas-border-deportation-19906670.php
...While urgency builds among Texas immigrants, especially women who have been victims of crime and abuse: https://www.keranews.org/immigration/2024-11-12/north-texas-immigrants-immigration-attorneys-trump-mass-deportations
Texas U.S. Senator John Cornyn is one of three possibilities to become Senate Majority Leader, with the results of a secret vote to be released Wednesday - while Elon Musk backs one of his competitors: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/government/2024/11/12/us-senate-majority-leader-vote-race-texas-john-cornyn-john-thune-rick-scott/76200123007/
...Musk may be wearing his welcome out at Mar-A-Lago, after just one week: https://www.thedailybeast.com/elon-musk-turning-himself-into-the-guest-who-wouldnt-leave-at-mar-a-lago/
...History is littered with rich men who tried - and failed - to similarly buy their way into the White House: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/11/opinion/elon-musk-trump-election.html
...As Molly Ivins said, and millions of Trump voters have failed to notice, the real struggle is not between the left and the right, but between the top and the bottom: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/11/billionaires-elon-musk-hate-us-ultra-wealthy-climate-crisis
Multiple miscues from the Colin Allred campaign and the Democratic structure at large led to a disastrous election for progressives: https://newrepublic.com/article/188260/allred-cruz-democrats-texas-blue
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available and individual tickets are now on sale: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
Project 2025 is no longer a warning: it's now the playbook of the next American administration: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
As expected, Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa resigned: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/08/texas-democrat-party-resigns-gilberto-hinojosa/
Texas will be the epicenter of Donald Trump's promised massive deportation operation, with the complicity of conservatives in Texas: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/texas/trump-immigration-crackdown-deportation-texas-plans-border-president-elect-mexico-remain/269-b3a25000-f68b-476a-81e5-cb8638d277d9
Both the Jewish community and the Muslim community in Texas found reasons stemming from the conflict in Gaza to gravitate away from Democrats in last week's election: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/faith/2024/11/10/how-oct-7-attack-and-war-in-gaza-shaped-north-texas-jewish-and-muslim-votes/
Texas transplant Elon Musk continues using Twitter to amplify hard-right wackadoodle theories about the dominance of "high status males": https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/elon-musk-trump-harris-high-status-males-4chan-b2606617.html
...He's also borrowing a page from the Ken Paxton playbook, dictating that lawsuits against Twitter be heard in the heavily-Republican Northern District of Texas: https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/10/elon-musks-x-is-moving-its-legal-disputes-to-northern-texas/
Surprising nobody, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has named private school vouchers his top priority in next year's legislative session: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/08/dan-patrick-texas-senate-school-choice-vouchers/
...While the Texas Senate Higher Education Committee meets today to discuss ways to even further amp up Republican efforts against anything remotely resembling DEI at Texas colleges: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/education/2024/11/11/sb17-texas-senate-higher-education-subcommittee-examine-dei-universities/76048145007/
A New Yorker interview with Willie Nelson on his new cannabis cookbook finds his wife Annie D'Angelo sporting a stylish Humans Against Ted Cruz t-shirt! They're available in our web store at ProgressTexas.org: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/11/11/willie-nelsons-latest-is-a-cannabis-cookbook
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available and individual tickets are now on sale: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
Project 2025 is no longer a warning: it's now the playbook of the next American administration: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Gilberto Hinojosa, Chair of the Texas Democratic Party since 2012, is reported to be set to announce his resignation today: https://quorumreport.com/quorum_report_daily_buzz_2024/texas_democratic_party_chairman_hinojosa_to_announ_buzziid32336.html
...This follows uproar over comments Hinojosa made using the TDP's defense of trans Texans as an example of a reason for the historic election loss this week: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/democratic-party-chair-texas-19898371.php
...Texas LGBTQ+ advocacy orgs were especially incensed: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/texas-democratic-party-chair-on-defensive-after-blaming-losses-on-support-of-trans-rights-36010763
...At the same time, Ted Cruz's multi-million-dollar smear of Texas' transgender community paid huge dividends for him at the ballot box: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/08/transgender-ads-motivate-texas-republicans/
The Progress Texas staff gathered yesterday for an opening conversation on the Democratic disaster, why it happened, and how to move forward: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-180-understanding-the-trump-win-and/id1552998795?i=1000676159392
Republican success reaching older Hispanic voters along the Texas border may come back to haunt those voters who have children protected by DACA: https://www.tpr.org/border-immigration/2024-11-07/texas-daca-recipients-say-theyre-scared-of-their-future-under-trump
Black Texans are being affected right away as well, with a barrage of racist texts targeting students at our historically Black colleges: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/black-americans-targeted-racist-texts-texas-us/
There IS good news today - the failure of an "abortion travel ban" ballot initiative in Amarillo may provide evidence of some room for reasonable conversation with abortion opponents: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas/2024/11/07/voters-in-a-conservative-texas-city-reject-abortion-travel-ban/
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available and individual tickets are now on sale: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
Project 2025 is no longer a warning: it's now the playbook of the next American administration: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
At this early stage, understanding how and why America chose to re-elect Donald Trump is beyond anyone's reach - it will take years to analyze both the prelude and the eventual aftermath. For now, at Progress Texas we are preparing for the next step: the 2025 Texas Legislature will feature an even more entrenched and power-drunk Republican majority. We gathered most of the crew for this one to share our thoughts on the situation, what needs to be addressed in Texas, and what the immediate path forward may hold.
One thing's certain: our work is impossible without YOUR help. If you find yourself motivated to elevate your activism and resistance as the second Trump term looms, we'd love to meet you - please consider supporting us by grabbing a ticket for one of our upcoming holiday parties in Austin and Dallas! Learn more at https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Multiple Texas news outlets are pointing to the Texas Democratic Party, led by Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa since 2012, which must own a major part of this historic defeat. Reform Austin: https://www.reformaustin.org/elections/after-three-decades-of-defeat-will-texas-democrats-finally-demand-change/
...The Texas Observer: https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-house-dems-defeat-2024/
...The Texas Tribune: https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-house-dems-defeat-2024/
...The Dallas Morning News: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2024/11/07/texas-republicans-rewrote-states-political-playbook/
What the battle is likely to look like in Texas under the second Trump administration: https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2024/11/06/trump-election-texas-impact
Why NOW is the time to renew our commitment and stand up for our values: https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2024/11/trump-victory-democracy/680549/
We salute the Texas State University students who stood down a Christian Nationalist demonstration on their San Marcos campus yesterday: https://universitystar.com/28322/multimedia/photo-gallery-demonstrators-spark-counter-protest-of-hundreds-at-txst/
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
Project 2025 is no longer a warning: it's now the playbook of the next American administration: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
We are just like you in our dismay at the results of yesterday's election. Today is a day to absorb the shock and process our emotions. But tuning out and staying home in future political battles is not an option. We must continue to fight fascism and the erasure of our rights, together. Campaigns come and go, but our progressive movement is forever. An authoritarian extremist ruling party deserves a strong, united opposition. Stay with us.
Learn more about how to support Progress Texas, where our work has never been more important than it has become this morning: https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
It's Election Day! Any questions? Hit https://govotetexas.org/.
Our endorsed candidates: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-november-general-election-endorsement-list
While our early voting totals are technically down from 2020, that year was unusual due to extended early voting and massive mail-in voting due to the pandemic: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/04/texas-early-voting-turnout-rate-down/
...Still, more people have voted early in Texas in 2024 than voted in the entire 2016 election - unfortunately, so far, Democrats appear to be underperforming: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/analyzing-early-voting-data-low-voter-turnout-before-election-day/
...Things to watch tonight and this week: Trump's likely winning margin in Texas, the Allred/Cruz margin, competitive South Texas races, candidates hand-picked by Abbott for private school vouchers, and the court races: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/05/texas-election-day-trump-harris-allred-cruz-congress-legislature/
...Conflict is hot over whether or not to allow federal monitors to watch the process in Texas, as they have for years: https://www.khou.com/article/news/politics/elections/texas-federal-election-monitors/285-ea3d242b-1953-4ddd-a16c-44e06201239c
...Ken Paxton has filed a last-second lawsuit to keep them out: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/ken-paxton-election-monitors-doj-19887480.php
...While sending out his own phalanx of poll watchers, which he calls his "Election Day Rapid Response Legal Team": https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4970979-texas-attorney-general-paxton-election-rapid-response/
...The Ted Cruz re-election campaign has been flagged by the Federal Election Commission for over $1 million in potential illegal contributions: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/feds-demand-ted-cruzs-campaign-explain-1-million-in-potentially-illegal-donations-35984664
...Dallas voters: don't forget to vote NO on Props S, T, and U: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/results-2024-dallas-hero-amendments-texas/
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
The draconian abortion ban that has stripped away the reproductive freedom of ALL Texans and endangered - and in at least two cases, ended - the lives of ALL pregnant people in Texas remains in place. No single election will fix this issue - only steady, sustained advocacy for our basic rights will get the job done. A group of talented musicians has put together a terrific way for people who are frustrated with the situation to express themselves in a way that will help spread understanding and activism as the fight continues. We're joined by the folks putting on the Roe Was The Floor event in Austin on Thursday November 7 at Radio East in Austin: Walker Lukens (who happens to supply our sweet theme music!), A.J. Haynes (perhaps best known as a member of Louisiana's Seratones), and Song Confessional co-founder Zac Catanzaro give us the skinny on this innovative and meaningful event, and provide details on how YOU can join in, from anywhere you might be.
Tickets for the Austin event on November 7: https://tinyurl.com/3kxk8xyk
Learn more about Song Confessional: https://linktr.ee/songconfessional.official?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaZf35KZ3MEWWcOT0RWWV-Gjy6CueOGOT9fFPDu-F7tKsq-5jikGy7YNkLA_aem_vDZo_KrIMO9mMJCNrvrlug
Learn more about Walker Lukens: https://www.walkerlukens.com/
Learn more about A.J. Haynes: https://culturalyst.com/ajhaynes
Learn more about Zac Catanzaro: https://www.instagram.com/zaclopedia/?hl=en
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our continued work towards progressive change in Texas at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Early voting totals turn out below 2020 overall, with encouraging stats for both sides - for Dems, heavy early turnout for women could be key: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/columns/2024/11/03/who-has-voted-early-in-texas-2024-elections-trump-harris/75989548007/
...Almost half of the total of registered voters in Texas have showed up early: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas/almost-half-of-texas-registered-voters-early-voting-numbers/287-7ea7dd66-f0b2-4767-883a-86d8da3ed561
...Ted Cruz is part of a national Republican push to falsely raise fears of widespread election fraud: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4966426-texas-republicans-election-fraud-claims/
...Strangely, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick disagrees, sticking up for the elections process in Tarrant County: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/lt-gov-responds-trump-campaign-sharing-false-claims-of-tarrant-county-vote-flipping/3687137/
...Meanwhile, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson refuses to allow federal elections monitors access to polling and counting locations in several Texas counties they have flagged: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/01/texas-justice-department-election-monitors/
National outrage over the second needless death of a pregnant Texas woman - Neveah Crain of Vidor was only 18 years old: https://www.propublica.org/article/nevaeh-crain-death-texas-abortion-ban-emtala
Over 100 Texas OB/GYN's have signed a letter to Texas lawmakers pleading for them to wake up to the living nightmare they have created: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/03/texas-ob-gyn-letter-abortion-laws/
Progress Texas has announced our endorsements for the 2024 election! See a full rundown here: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas%E2%80%99-november-general-election-endorsements
...And a podcast on WHY we've chosen to back these great candidates: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/happy-hour-174-our-2024-candidate-endorsements
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Today is the last day to vote early in the 2024 election - after today, only Election Day on Tuesday remains: GoVoteTexas.org
In spite of huge urban turnout, the vast expanse of rural Texas continues outpacing the cities: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/suburban-texas-counties-see-surge-in-voter-turnout-as-early-voting-nears-end
The Texas Tribune releases a highly unsettling list of prominent Republicans who are primed to spread the damage they've already done to Texas across the nation should Trump win next week: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/01/texans-trump-administration/
Not on the list is Tarrant County GOP Chair Bo French, whose immature online insult comedy has drawn condemnation from his own party: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/31/texas-tarrant-county-republican-chair-social-media-bo-french/
Texas provides a warning for the future of contraception access nationwide should Trump get a second term: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/10/what-would-the-future-of-birth-control-be-under-trump-ask-texas/
Donald Trump follows Ken Paxton's lead and picks Amarillo judge Matthew Kacsmaryk's court to file his $10 billion lawsuit against CBS News over their interview with Kamala Harris: https://www.salon.com/2024/10/31/sues-cbs-for-10-billion-over-harris-60-minutes-interview/
The Fayette County Democratic Party put up a Harris/Walz billboard in their rural, Trumpy stretch of Texas - and it lasted about a week: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/election/2024/article/kamala-harris-billboard-texas-19874673.php
Today is the first day that Texas hospitals are required by executive order from Governor Abbott to ask incoming patients about their immigration status: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/texas-order-hospitals-citizenship-status-requirement-november-1/3685564/
Progress Texas has announced our endorsements for the 2024 election! See a full rundown here: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas%E2%80%99-november-general-election-endorsements
...And a podcast on WHY we've chosen to back these great candidates: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/happy-hour-174-our-2024-candidate-endorsements
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Urban turnout remains strong, but statewide, Republican turnout appears to be comfortably outpacing Democratic voting: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/texas-republicans-lead-early-turnout-by-more-than-a-million-early-vote-data-suggests/
Elon Musk has sunk $2 million into a PAC dedicated to supporting Republican challengers to Democratic judges in Texas: https://www.tpr.org/government-politics/2024-10-30/elon-musk-makes-2-million-donation-to-fund-texas-pac-backing-gop-judicial-candidates
Are California transplants having an effect on Texas politics? A new study says no: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/2024/california-texas-politics/
When should we expect to see final election results? There's a lot that has to happen on Tuesday night before they arrive: https://www.votebeat.org/texas/2024/10/31/when-will-2024-presidential-election-results-arrive-report-totals/
At least half of an advisory board for the TEA, appointed by Commissioner Mike Morath, is currently made up of people with backgrounds in religious advocacy: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/31/texas-curriculum-board-christian-advocacy/
Progress Texas has announced our endorsements for the 2024 election! See a full rundown here: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas%E2%80%99-november-general-election-endorsements
...And a podcast on WHY we've chosen to back these great candidates: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/happy-hour-174-our-2024-candidate-endorsements
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
In a case that has been winding through the courts for seven years, Laredo citizen journalist Priscilla Villareal has won a major battle in what's become a long war over the basic constitutional freedom of the press: her case, in which Laredo police charged her under a law that had never before been applied over her reporting of local, factual, non-biased news, has been sent by the U.S. Supreme Court back to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals for reconsideration. Priscilla joins us to tell her story along with J.T. Morris, Senior Attorney with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Experession or FIRE, who has been representing Priscilla in her fight for justice.
The basics of the story: https://www.thefire.org/news/breaking-supreme-court-revives-lawsuit-citizen-journalist-arrested-asking-question
Learn more about FIRE: https://www.thefire.org/
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
As early voting continues, Harris County closes in on one million early votes cast, while the top 5 most populous Texas counties remain under 40% turnout, and some Hill Country counties top 50%: https://www.sos.texas.gov/elections/historical/index.shtml
NBC News still shows very few Texans under 40 showing up so far - less than 10% have been under 30: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-elections/texas-results
Following the lead of Dallas County, Travis County has extended the operating hours of several polling locations for the last couple of early voting days: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/extended-early-voting-hours-locations-travis-county-austin-texas-locations/269-10b2abd1-dbaa-4365-b287-276def12e0ab
Harris County has done the same: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/election-2024/2024/10/29/504482/harris-county-official-answers-voters-questions-halloween-early-voting-hours-extended/
A Bush family endorsement for Kamala Harris comes from George W. Bush's daughter Barbara Pierce Bush: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4958962-barbara-pierce-bush-endorses-harris/
One Texan booted from our voter rolls under suspicion of being undocumented is a hardcore Trump backer from Montgomery County: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/29/texas-noncitizen-voter-roll-removal-mary-howard-elley/
Propublica highlights the tragic and needless death of Josseli Barnica, who was allowed by her doctors to contract a fatal infection as a result of a failed pregnancy in 2021: https://www.propublica.org/article/josseli-barnica-death-miscarriage-texas-abortion-ban
Progress Texas has announced our endorsements for the 2024 election! See a full rundown here: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas%E2%80%99-november-general-election-endorsements
...And a podcast on WHY we've chosen to back these great candidates: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/happy-hour-174-our-2024-candidate-endorsements
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Massive turnout in Texas' urban counties continues, as the early percentage performance of rural counties appears to be stalling: https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/index.shtml
An NBC early voting interface shows a striking lack of younger turnout: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-elections/texas-results
An Axios voter registration percentage map shows Texas among the 7 states with the lowest levels of eligible voters in the game: https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2024/10/28/mapped-texas-low-voter-registration
Dallas County shows a notable low percentage of early voters, but also long lines - prompting officials to extend polling station hours for the last three days of early voting: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/dallas-county-extending-early-voting-hours-next-week/
The Texas Standard and Houston Public Media shine a spotlight on our GoVoteTexas.org website for its expansion of language translations: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/voting/2024/10/24/503997/voting-guide-now-available-in-vietnamese-mandarin-chinese-hindi/
Turns out that comedian whose racist "jokes" have overshadowed Donald Trump's Madison Square Garden rally lives in Austin - and has two major events booked in late December at Cedar Park's H.E.B. Center: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/trending/article/tony-hinchcliffe-puerto-rico-remark-19868255.php
The documentary Zurawski v Texas has won two major awards at the 33rd annual Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival: https://deadline.com/2024/10/2024-hot-springs-documentary-film-festival-awards-zurawski-v-texas-no-other-land-porcelain-war-1236160345/
Progress Texas has announced our endorsements for the 2024 election! See a full rundown here: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas%E2%80%99-november-general-election-endorsements
...And a podcast on WHY we've chosen to back these great candidates: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/happy-hour-174-our-2024-candidate-endorsements
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
In-person turnout has been massive in the first half of the 2024 early voting period, with higher percentages in rural counties than urban: https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/historical/index.shtml
...However, overall turnout is actually down at this stage compared to 2020, when mail-in ballots saw a giant spike due to the pandemic: https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/early-voting-trends-texas-19863618.php
...Paper registration forms, turned both by mail and in person, are increasingly failing to result in a successful registration: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/28/texas-voter-registration-issues/
...A San Antonio man faces third degree felony assault charges after punching an elderly election volunteer who asked him to remove his red MAGA hat in a Southwest San Antonio polling station: https://www.ksat.com/news/ksat-investigates/2024/10/26/man-bonds-out-of-jail-after-charged-with-punching-poll-worker-69-who-told-him-to-remove-maga-hat/
The Kamala Harris rally in Houston on Friday night saw attendance over 30 thousand: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/kamala-harris-rallies-beyonce-willie-nelson-texas-rcna177407
...Link to watch the full event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8kYjy6FvHk
Trump's rally Sunday at Madison Square Garden - reminiscent of the 1939 Nazi rally held in that same space - fell short of the Harris event, with an attendance of 19 thousand: https://apnews.com/article/trump-madison-square-garden-new-york-election-fcfe75be7f8281fde7bffa3adb3bba5d
...For comparison, a link to "A Night At The Garden", a documentary on that 1939 rally, the largest Nazi event ever held in the U.S.: https://anightatthegarden.com/
Progress Texas has announced our endorsements for the 2024 election! See a full rundown here: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas%E2%80%99-november-general-election-endorsements
...And a podcast on WHY we've chosen to back these great candidates: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/happy-hour-174-our-2024-candidate-endorsements
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
This weekend, we all have an opportunity to catch one of the most important documentary films involving reproductive freedom to have yet been produced. The film Zurawski v Texas is a stunningly-intimate inside and real-time view of the highly personal dilemmas that faced Amanda Zurawski and the other eventual plaintiffs in her groundbreaking case for basic essential healthcare for pregnant people in Texas, and is a must-see for not only people concerned with that issue, but for ALL Texans, as we are ALL eventually affected by this denial of basic rights.
This weekend sees a special stream of the film and a chance to support the filmmakers, Abbie Perrault and Maisie Crow. Learn more at https://watch.eventive.org/togetherfilms/play/670db1d13a247100e803df13/670db1dc3f8905002cc42691.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A growing number of urban Texas counties exceed 100,000 early votes cast, as a growing number of rural Texas counties top 27% early turnout: https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/index.shtml
...Progress Texas weighs in on the huge early turnout: https://progresstexas.org/blog/statement-texas-early-voting-excitement-shatters-records
...Want to confirm that your ballot was counted? It takes some doing, but can be done: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/elections/texas-check-ballot-counted-status/287-08daf8ac-123a-45f1-8806-5f121c0f303c
Vice President Kamala Harris will appear in Houston today, alongside Senatorial candidate Colin Allred and Texas icons Beyoncé and Willie Nelson: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/25/us/politics/harris-beyonce-houston-texas.html
...The VP's expected message: a warning to battleground swing states that the draconian crackdown on reproductive freedom in Texas could come to their states next: https://www.npr.org/2024/10/25/nx-s1-5164491/donald-trump-joe-rogan-texas-kamala-harris-beyonce
National Democrats see enough hope in Colin Allred's race against Ted Cruz for a massive late-game spend on advertising: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/10/24/texas-senate-allred-cruz-00185409
An Oregon school district is calling on Ted Cruz to pull TV ads that attack transgender rights while using - without permission - a photo of two minor girls who are not transgender: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4952253-ted-cruz-campaign-transgender-ad/
Progress Texas has announced our endorsements for the 2024 election! See a full rundown here: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas%E2%80%99-november-general-election-endorsements
...And a podcast on WHY we've chosen to back these great candidates: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/happy-hour-174-our-2024-candidate-endorsements
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Even missing key data, the Texas Secretary of State's tally of early turnout shows massive interest in the election across the state, but the biggest numbers in our urban counties: https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/historical/index.shtml
Keep in mind that you can't use your smartphone while voting: https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2024/10/24/dont-even-think-about-using-your-phone-at-the-polls-key-electronic-rules-every-texas-voter-needs-to-know/
...Also, you can't wear political slogans on your clothing, unfortunately including your awesome Humans Against Ted Cruz t-shirt: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/state/2024/10/21/wear-clothes-political-shirts-law-illegal-polls-electioneering-early-voting-texas-election-2024/75775888007/
New polling - which is becoming less and less relevant - shows a dead heat between Colin Allred and Ted Cruz: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4947749-cruz-allred-texas-senate-race-poll/
...Another study uncovers the obvious, that Republicans are far more skeptical of the security of our elections process than Democrats: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/u-of-h-survey-finds-sharp-divide-in-texas-voters-confidence-in-electoral-system
Ken Paxton's e-mail account for reporting voter fraud has instead fielded a flood of trolling: https://abc13.com/post/emails-sent-texas-attorney-general-ken-paxtons-illegal-voting-tip-line-flooded-trolls-taunts/15460430/
Progress Texas has announced our endorsements for the 2024 election! See a full rundown here: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas%E2%80%99-november-general-election-endorsements
...And a podcast on WHY we've chosen to back these great candidates: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/happy-hour-174-our-2024-candidate-endorsements
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
At publishing time, we're on the third day of early voting in the monumentally consequential 2024 election - which marks the 30th anniversary of the last time any Democrat won a statewide office in Texas (it just so happens that Kamala Harris is set to visit Texas this week - the first campaign visit by a Presidential candidate this close to the election over the same 30 years). We're joined by Garry Mauro, who was one of the five Democrats who won in 1994 - the same year that the beloved Governor Ann Richards fell to George W. Bush, Garry was re-elected to the office of Land Commissioner. Progress Texas board member and longtime Texas politico Jason Smith joins us as Garry takes us back to the "good old days" of tight teamwork and camaraderie among Texas Dems, recalls his strategies and success in conveying progressive ideas to conservative ears, and offers his advice on how progressives in Texas today can best execute a return to political power tomorrow.
Learn more about Garry Mauro at https://law.utexas.edu/humanrights/directory/garry-mauro/.
Thanks for listening! Progress Texas could use YOUR help as we continue fighting for progressive change into 2025's certainly-contentious legislative year. Learn more about how to help us continue that fight at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texas officially set a new all-time turnout record for the first day of early voting on Monday: https://www.khou.com/article/news/politics/elections/texas-early-voting-record-set/285-8314514c-859a-48bb-9311-08d7a591bd6f
...It's due both to massive population growth, and rates of voter registration that outpace that growth: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4947150-texas-early-voting-turnout-record/
...Despite a viral video that has stoked right-wing paranoia, election officials in North Texas report no significant glitches with voting machines: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/verify/no-votes-for-donald-trump-not-being-marked-as-votes-for-kamala-harris-in-white-settlement-texas/287-d50739d4-bf37-4c9c-86dc-552357c98ef3
Despite his own admission that non-citizen voting is extremely rare, Ken Paxton has sued the Biden administration for insufficiently helping to verify the citizenship of registered voters: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/22/texas-voter-verification-lawsuit-paxton/
...Perhaps bending to pressure from Paxton, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson has gone along with the non-citizen voting hysteria, just two days after proclaiming Texas' readiness for the election: https://x.com/josephtrimmer_/status/1848901113501688154?s=46
Both Presidential candidates will be in Texas - the first time in 30 years this close to the election - with Kamala Harris hosting a rally in Houston on Friday afternoon: https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2024/10/22/kamala-harris-visit-to-texas-a-sign-of-shifting-political-battlegrounds/
...Link to RSVP for the Harris rally: https://events.democrats.org/event/732872/
...And Donald Trump will be in Austin on Friday, to appear on Joe Rogan's podcast: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/both-presidential-candidates-to-visit-texas-friday-as-election-day-looms
...While VP hopeful and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will join an online roundtable on cannabis legalization hosted by Willie Nelson on Thursday night at 6: https://deadline.com/2024/10/willie-nelson-cannabis-community-call-support-kamala-harris-1236120922/
...Link to join Willie's party: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_VC7_s84vSzC5mJp5QjTULA#/registration
Texas Supreme Court justice John Devine has drawn fresh scrutiny over his management of a family friend's estate, conflicting with ethics rules: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/22/texas-supreme-court-john-devine-elvie-kingston-trust/
Progress Texas has announced our endorsements for the 2024 election! See a full rundown here: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas%E2%80%99-november-general-election-endorsements
...And a podcast on WHY we've chosen to back these great candidates: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/happy-hour-174-our-2024-candidate-endorsements
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Massive, record-breaking turnout on the first day of early voting in the 2024 election yesterday in North Texas: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/texas-is-the-third-least-safe-state-to-live-in-america-heres-why/3676621/?os=vb.&ref=app
...In the Austin area: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/long-wait-times-seen-as-early-voting-kicks-off-in-texas
...In the Houston area: https://www.fox26houston.com/news/harris-county-clerk-addressing-election-rumors-first-day-early-voting
...In the San Antonio area: https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/bexar-county-early-voting-record-19848470.php
...While voter totals are smaller, a great number of Texas' rural and suburban counties saw percentages of their registered voters surpassing those of our urban counties show up on day 1: https://earlyvoting.texas-election.com/Elections/getEVDetails.do
...VP Kamala Harris has announced a rally in Houston on Friday: https://events.democrats.org/event/732872/
Robert Roberson didn't testify at the Capitol yesterday after all, but he might in the future: https://apnews.com/article/robert-roberson-texas-execution-shaken-baby-syndrome-1fc3638211444a6117ef2567fedca7e4
...Dr. Phil and author John Grisham did testify, and Governor Abbott broke his silence to criticize the committee that halted Roberson's execution: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/greg-abbott-robert-roberson-execution-19851818.php
Need another motivation to vote today? Texas ranks very low in a safety ranking of U.S. states: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/texas-is-the-third-least-safe-state-to-live-in-america-heres-why/3676621/?os=vb.&ref=app
We need your politically apathetic cousin to get in the game! Here's how to talk to them about Donald Trump's Project 2025: https://progresstexas.org/blog/how-talk-your-apathetic-cousin-about-project-2025
Progress Texas has announced our endorsements for the 2024 election! See a full rundown here: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas%E2%80%99-november-general-election-endorsements
...And a podcast on WHY we've chosen to back these great candidates: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/happy-hour-174-our-2024-candidate-endorsements
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
We encourage all committed progressives to VOTE TODAY, and to spend the next two weeks pestering everyone you know to vote as well: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/11-day-early-voting-stretch-begins-monday-in-texas/3676004/?os=io....dbr5yxkr&ref=app
...Texas officials have made it plain that they don't want young, diverse Texans to participate: https://www.expressnews.com/opinion/commentary/article/texas-voter-suppression-2024-19836986.php
Trump Party bloviations about non-citizen voting are plain and obvious poppycock: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/election/2024/article/texas-claims-noncitizen-voting-19821602.php
...Texas transplant Elon Musk is skating dangerously close to federal election law violations: https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/20/politics/elon-musk-voter-giveaway-legal-questions/index.html
...Another reason to vote today? Ted Cruz's polling lead over Colin Allred grows to seven points: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/republican-advantage-grows-with-trump-and-cruz-still-favored-to-win-in-texas-pollster-says/
...Dallas voters have even more reasons to turn out in three misleading propositions that will undercut the Dallas City Council and short circuit Dallas' budget if passed. Podcast featuring Council Member Adam Bazaldua: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-175-dont-be-stupid-3-dallas-ballot-measures/id1552998795?i=1000673625056
...As well as Steven Monacelli, who has taken a deep dive into how the props were forced onto the Dallas ballot by a Texas billionaire seeking to reshape the city's government more to his liking: https://www.texasobserver.org/dallas-hero-initiative-monty-bennett-crowds-on-demand/
Robert Roberson, whose execution on Thursday was blocked, is expected to testify before the Texas Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence today: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/18/robert-roberson-texas-house-hearing/
...It's still not clear if Roberson will travel to the Capitol, or testify virtually: https://www.tpr.org/criminal-justice/2024-10-20/robert-roberson-set-to-testify-before-texas-lawmakers-days-after-they-saved-him-from-execution
...Ken Paxton tried - and failed - through the weekend to talk the Texas Supreme Court into reversing itself: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/courts/2024/10/20/ken-paxton-asks-texas-supreme-court-to-reverse-decision-delaying-roberson-execution/
We need your politically apathetic cousin to get in the game! Here's how to talk to them about Donald Trump's Project 2025: https://progresstexas.org/blog/how-talk-your-apathetic-cousin-about-project-2025
Progress Texas has announced our endorsements for the 2024 election! See a full rundown here: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas%E2%80%99-november-general-election-endorsements
...And a podcast on WHY we've chosen to back these great candidates: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/happy-hour-174-our-2024-candidate-endorsements
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Early voting is almost here, and while many of our regulars are excited to vote for Kamala Harris and Colin Allred, we remind you that it's important to understand and vote your ENTIRE ballot - and nowhere in Texas is that more true this time than in Dallas. Propositions S, T, and U are written for the ballot to appear common sense, public safety and accountability measures, but in reality, they threaten to bankrupt the City of Dallas' budget and grant unprecedented local control to wealthy activists - many of whom directly involved don't even live or work in Dallas. We're happy to welcome back Dallas City Council Member Adam Bazaldua, who has a keen understanding of how these measures threaten to upend Big D, and investigative reporter Steven Monacelli, who has just dropped a major expose on the "Dallas HERO" group behind these three measures, exposing their funding, their motives, and how they hope to establish a model for the future short-circuiting of other Democratically-run big cities in Texas.
Find Steven's piece in the Texas Observer at https://www.texasobserver.org/dallas-hero-initiative-monty-bennett-crowds-on-demand/.
Find Dallas City Council Member Adam Bazaldua at https://dallascityhall.com/government/citycouncil/district7/Pages/default.aspx
Thanks for listening! Learn more about how you can support Progress Texas' important work, through the election and into next year's pivotal legislative session - including by attending or sponsoring our December holiday parties in Dallas and Austin - at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Legal wrangling involving courts from a local Austin judge to the U.S. Supreme Court leaves death row inmate Robert Roberson still alive this morning, for now: https://www.khou.com/video/news/local/texas-supreme-court-blocks-execution-of-robert-roberson/285-2dbb3d89-871c-4579-a7df-0115682c07ba
...SCOTUS declined to intervene, Austin Judge Jessica Mangrum DID intervene, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overrruled Mangrum, and the Texas Supreme Court overruled them - whew! https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/16/robert-roberson-texas-shaken-baby-execution/
...The Roberson case is likely to crank out further drama - and energizes the possibility of someday bringing the death penalty to an end in Texas: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2024/10/17/court-criminal-appeals-rejects-bid-delay-texas-execution-robert-roberson-death-penalty-shaken-baby/75725968007/
Ken Paxton finds time in a busy day of trying to kill Robert Roberson as quickly as possible to sue a Dallas doctor over her treatment of transgender minors: https://www.dallasnews.com/business/health-care/2024/10/17/paxton-sues-dallas-doctor-over-giving-gender-affirming-treatments-to-minors/
We need your politically apathetic cousin to get in the game! Here's how to talk to them about Donald Trump's Project 2025: https://progresstexas.org/blog/how-talk-your-apathetic-cousin-about-project-2025
Progress Texas has announced our endorsements for the 2024 election! See a full rundown here: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas%E2%80%99-november-general-election-endorsements
...And a podcast on WHY we've chosen to back these great candidates: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/happy-hour-174-our-2024-candidate-endorsements
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of our comprehensive voting resource GoVoteTexas.org with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texas is now hours from executing a man who experts - and his own prosecutors - agree was convicted on junk science. The bipartisan Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence has issued a subpoena for Roberson to testify before them at a date beyond his scheduled execution: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/17/texas-execution-robert-roberson-subpoena/
...The state, for over a decade, has ignored a 2013 law that allows convictions based upon undermined science to be re-tried: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/17/robert-roberson-texas-execution-shaken-baby-syndrome
Starting November 1, Texas hospitals are under orders to ask arriving patients about their citizenship status - but those patients are not compelled to answer: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/17/texas-undocumented-immigrants-hospitals-greg-abbott/
Over less than the first 24 hours following his Tuesday night debate against Ted Cruz, Colin Allred pulled in over $1 million in donations: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/10/16/colin-allred-says-his-campaign-raised-1-million-after-his-fiery-debate-with-ted-cruz/
Join Chispa Texas for a people's hearing on the LNG industry in the Corpus Christi area: https://www.ferc.gov/news-events/events/virtual-scoping-sessions-and-extension-scoping-period-gulfstream-lng-development
Progress Texas has announced our endorsements for the 2024 election! See a full rundown here: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas%E2%80%99-november-general-election-endorsements
...And a podcast on WHY we've chosen to back these great candidates: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/happy-hour-174-our-2024-candidate-endorsements
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of our comprehensive voting resource GoVoteTexas.org with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Colin Allred consistently got Ted Cruz's goat during last night's debate: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/15/texas-senate-debate-ted-cruz-colin-allred/
...Fact-checking finds a bunch of fudged facts (big surprise) from Ted Cruz: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/election-2024/2024/10/15/503107/cruz-v-allred-debate-fact-check-from-abortion-to-insurrection/
...Our statement on the debate: https://progresstexas.org/blog/expect-anything-truth-two-faced-ted
...Missed the debate? Watch it here: https://youtu.be/ZMHN4puJPsQ?si=VbhIB8CWDqiM75Fq
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has at least temporarily restored Ken Paxton's ability to pursue "vote harvesting" cases in Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/28/texas-vote-harvesting-law-unconstitutional/
The U.S. Supreme Court wants the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its decision that citizen journalist Priscilla Villareal can't sue Laredo police over her arrest for asking police questions: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-supreme-court-gives-texas-citizen-journalist-new-shot-sue-over-arrest-2024-10-15/
Georgia over doubled its prior record for the number of votes cast on the first day of early voting yesterday! Let's beat that score in Texas on Monday: https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/15/politics/early-voting-record-georgia/index.html
Join Chispa Texas for a people's hearing on the LNG industry in the Corpus Christi area: https://www.ferc.gov/news-events/events/virtual-scoping-sessions-and-extension-scoping-period-gulfstream-lng-development
Progress Texas has announced our endorsements for the 2024 election! See a full rundown here: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas%E2%80%99-november-general-election-endorsements
...And a podcast on WHY we've chosen to back these great candidates: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/happy-hour-174-our-2024-candidate-endorsements
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of our comprehensive voting resource GoVoteTexas.org with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The only debate between Senator Ted Cruz and Democratic challenger Congressman Colin Allred is scheduled for tonight in Dallas: https://www.yahoo.com/news/ted-cruz-colin-allred-meet-040719061.html?guccounter=1
...The debate comes as internal Republican polling shows Cruz's lead having narrowed to one single point: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/10/13/senate-republican-poll-memo-00183570
...In a panic, Cruz has been attacking the Senate Leadership Fund, which is run by Mitch McConnell, with whom he has frequently clashed: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4932873-cruz-slf-mcconnell-senate-texas/
Governor Abbott is revealed to have massively fudged the number of non-citizen registered voters he kicked off the rolls weeks ago: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/15/texas-noncitizen-voter-roll-removal-included-americans/
HBO host Jon Oliver takes Ken Paxton to task for acting on very flimsy reporting by Fox News on supposed mass registrations of non-citizen migrants in Weatherford: https://www.thedailybeast.com/john-oliver-blasts-fox-news-maria-bartiromo-dumber-than-you-think
Keller ISD, facing heat over their plans to shame kids with outstanding lunch balances, is calling on the public to contribute to a new lunch fund: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/education/keller-isd-launches-fundraiser-to-pay-lunch-debts-after-district-says-students-would-be-served-alternative-meals/287-18c9c8b7-82d3-4d7a-903a-7424c7a2e518
Progress Texas has announced our endorsements for the 2024 election! See a full rundown here: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas%E2%80%99-november-general-election-endorsements
...And a podcast on WHY we've chosen to back these great candidates: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/happy-hour-174-our-2024-candidate-endorsements
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of our comprehensive voting resource GoVoteTexas.org with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
There’s one week left until the early voting starts for the November 5 general election, and there’s still lots of work to do to make sure that every Texan is informed and ready to vote! We’re doing our part to increase turnout, including expanding our voter navigation website, GoVoteTexas.org, to Texas’ top, vote-deciding languages now available in Vietnamese, Mandarin, Hindi, English, and Spanish!
Progress Texas has built the largest online community of progressives from across the state — Texans who share and stand up for bold progressive values. Together, we can build a statewide movement to fight for our future. That starts with electing progressives at every level of government. Yet, when most races do not get major media attention, we’re here to help put the spotlight on your neighbors who are standing up to serve your community.
Here’s a rundown of those who applied and passed muster on top issues like voting and civil rights, abortion and reproductive freedoms, pledging environmental protections, strengthening public education, gun safety, and more. But before you get started, be sure to search which candidates are running to represent you by state house and senate district (HD/SD), along with other statewide seats. We further encourage you to share important resources with your family, friends, and network on getting out the vote and supporting these candidates through November!
Stories we're following this morning:
A lawsuit filed by a Texas man against three women who helped his ex-wife acquire abortion medication, backed by notorious anti-abortion activist attorney Jonathan Mitchell, has been dropped: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/12/us/texas-lawsuit-friends-abortion-pills.html
A longstanding effort by an Andrews County nuclear waste storage facility to ship even more highly toxic waste into Texas from long distances has made it to the U.S. Supreme Court: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/09/us-supreme-court-west-texas-nuclear-waste-plan/
At the behest of Governor Abbott, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has removed a federal judge from a class action lawsuit that the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has failed to abide for almost a decade: https://lawandcrime.com/judiciary/must-be-removed-fifth-circuit-bounces-clinton-appointed-judge-from-long-running-texas-foster-care-system-abuse-case-after-greg-abbott-asks-for-her-removal/
Thomas Saenz, president of MALDEF, compares Ken Paxton's voter suppression tactics in South Texas to similar moves made by foreign authoritarian dictators: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2024/10/14/paxtons-tactics-in-texas-undermine-our-electoral-democracy/
...Even right-leaning experts agree that non-citizen voting, the latest boogeyman of the Trump Party, is a largely non-existent problem: https://abcnews.go.com/US/protecting-vote-south-texas-myth-noncitizen-voting-takes/story?id=114729639
The documentary Zurawski V Texas has won the inaugural Artemis Rising Foundation Award for Social Impact at the Hamptons Film Festival: https://variety.com/2024/film/news/zurawski-v-texas-abortion-documentary-artemis-rising-foundation-award-hamptons-film-festival-1236175574/
The Ted Cruz/Colin Allred debate on Tuesday night will be carried by TEGNA-owned TV stations across Texas, and also via the WFAA app: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/ted-cruz-colin-allred-debate-texas-us-senate-election-tv-wfaa/287-7e425e4a-0ccb-49b8-a817-8e9205960212
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Republicans are pouring money into three South Texas State House races - lately significantly outraising their Democratic opponents: https://www.latintimes.com/republicans-investing-south-texas-district-campaigns-561769
Like Progress Texas, the Dallas Morning News has endorsed Christine Weems over Texas Supreme Court Justice John Devine, and spells out very clearly why: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2024/10/11/we-recommend-for-texas-supreme-court-place-4/
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller has been subpoenaed to testify in the criminal trial of one of his closest advisors: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/10/texas-sid-miller-ag-commissioner-todd-smith-hemp-indicted/
The class-action lawsuit filed against Gateway Church in Southlake by members who want their tithes refunded keeps growing as more dissatisfied congregants sign on: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/gateway-church-class-action-lawsuit-updates/
...Gateway pastor Robert Morris' victim has detailed the story of her childhood and recovery: https://www.chron.com/culture/religion/article/north-texas-pastor-sexual-abuse-19830341.php
...Megachurch abuse is not a new trend, but churchgoers finding the courage to stand up against it is: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/texas-megachurch-pastors-19731331.php
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
See Progress Texas' guide to fun events happening across the state during National Hispanic Heritage Month, which continues through October 15: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-texas-culture-national-hispanic-heritage-month
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
With progressives being some of the most diverse voters in the big tent party, and with hope to unite get out the vote efforts, we invited leadership and members of the Texas Democratic Party’s Progressive Caucus to talk specifics on their platform and work uniting our movement. As young Texans decide whether to sit this election out, vote third party, or make history by showing up to the polls in force, we give time to the biggest topics on their minds, including the call for peace in the Middle East.
Progress Texas Advocacy Manager Reagan Stone hosts Texas Progressive Caucus President Clayton Tucker, Vice President Emad Salem, Treasurer Angel Viator Smith, and Joshua Garcia, TPC Advisory Board member. Enjoy, and learn more about the Texas Progressive Caucus at https://www.texasprogressivecaucus.org.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and the many ways you can support our ongoing mission at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Republican candidates statewide, including Ted Cruz, have centered their closing messages for the election on anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ hate: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/election/2024/article/ted-cruz-transgender-ads-19826315.php
The Afiya Center in Dallas is pointing out that the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision not to force Texas hospitals to save pregnant patients from deadly pregnancies with abortion care will disproportionately affect Black women: https://www.keranews.org/texas-news/2024-10-10/supreme-court-texas-emergency-abortions-black-women-afiya-center
Texas Trump types are also continuing to push false theories of voter fraud - the Tarrant County GOP Chair has been outright lying about "duplicate voter lists": https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/election/article293718734.html
Keller ISD has announced that kids with lunchroom balances over $25 will be downgraded to cheaper, inferior meals - a policy that will certainly lead to shaming and division for its lower-income students: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/education/keller-isd-students-with-lunch-debt-to-be-served-alternative-meals-district-says/287-acb3489c-9fc3-428d-ac1e-ad42c21e16ac
That $1 million donation from Elon Musk to Texans For Lawsuit Reform? Makes perfect sense that a risk-prone billionaire industrialist would like to limit your ability to sue him: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/elon-musk-lawsuit-reform-donation-19824336.php
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024
See Progress Texas' guide to fun events happening across the state during National Hispanic Heritage Month, which continues through October 15: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-texas-culture-national-hispanic-heritage-month
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A new survey finds that about 2 in 3 OB/GYN's practicing in Texas have been negatively impacted by our state's extensive abortion ban, and many are thinking of leaving the state altogether: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2024/10/08/texas-abortion-bans-prompt-some-ob-gyns-to-mull-leaving-survey-finds/75558421007/
Elon Musk, following his impressive Trump rally dance moves, has cut a $1 million check to a Trump-backing PAC: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/election/2024/article/elon-musk-texas-election-campaign-donation-19823703.php
Colin Allred continues outpacing Ted Cruz in fundraising - though we recall that Beto O'Rourke did too: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/08/texas-senate-colin-allred-ted-cruz-fundraising/
...Allred and Cruz are set to face off in a debate next Tuesday October 15, hosted by WFAA in Dallas - you'll need their app to watch outside of D/FW, and it's free: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/texas-debate/texas-debate-ground-rules-for-debate-on-wfaa-between-ted-cruz-colin-allred/287-13742383-b09f-4d76-ae9a-eccd0cc69f56
...While Ted Cruz is found on a newly-circulating list of lawmakers who voted to defund FEMA, alongside several Texas U.S. House members: https://meidasnews.com/news/ted-cruz-rick-scott-other-senate-republicans-voted-to-defund-fema-in-2021
Ken Paxton wants the feds to look into 450,000 Texans who registered to vote without a state driver's license or ID - documents that are not required to be eligible: https://www.kut.org/politics/2024-10-07/texas-ag-paxton-asks-feds-to-check-citizenship-status-of-nearly-a-half-million-registered-voters
Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available: https://progresstexas.org/donate
See Progress Texas' guide to fun events happening across the state during National Hispanic Heritage Month, which continues through October 15: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-texas-culture-national-hispanic-heritage-month
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The U.S. Supreme Court, surprising nobody, voted on party lines 6-3 not to intervene on behalf of Texans facing death amidst traumatic pregnancies, leaving our state's almost complete ban on abortion intact: https://newrepublic.com/post/186858/supreme-court-texas-emergency-abortion-ban
...Our skyrocketing maternal and infant mortality numbers were apparently not a compelling factor: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/texas-abortion-supreme-court-emergecy-room-1235127792/
...The three seats up for re-election on the Texas Supreme Court are a great place to start turning this terrible tide: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-supreme-court-elections-2024/
The average age of the members of the Texas Legislature has continued to rise and is now well above the average age of Texans at large: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/08/texas-legislature-gerontocracy-young-voters/
This election, watch out for rogue, right wing partisan poll watchers, who now enjoy more legal protections as they hover over polling stations: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/10/07/texas-new-poll-watcher-protections-will-be-put-to-the-test-in-2024-election/
Republicans continue setting the stage to challenge their losses as they continue sowing doubt about voting machines and software: https://thebarbedwire.com/2024/10/07/everything-about-our-elections-has-been-politicized-by-the-right/
See Progress Texas' guide to fun events happening across the state during National Hispanic Heritage Month, which continues through October 15: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-texas-culture-national-hispanic-heritage-month
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
TODAY is the last day to register and to confirm your existing registration for the November election! All you need for that at https://govotetexas.org/.
A Travis County judge has blocked a Texas Health And Human Services plan that would have disrupted the care of almost two million low-income Texans: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2024/10/04/texas-judge-halts-116-billion-medicaid-proposal-that-could-affect-18-million/
Ted Cruz, after decades of active anti-choice activism, suddenly has nothing to say about reproductive freedom: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/07/ted-cruz-texas-abortion-colin-allred/
...While longtime Republican and former Tarrant County judge Glenn Whitley pledges his vote to Colin Allred: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article293541534.html
A Flower Mound bakery is undeterred by MAGA threats over their Tim Walz cookies: https://www.chron.com/food/article/hive-bakery-cookies-death-threats-19816407.php
...Order up some goodies here: https://www.hivebakerytx.com/
That early-morning Blue Alert that woke up millions of Texans hundreds of miles from a Panhandle police shooting on Friday was sent outside of normal DPS policy: https://www.kut.org/crime-justice/2024-10-07/millions-of-texans-woke-up-to-a-blue-alert-dps-didnt-appear-to-follow-its-own-guidelines
...Thousands of Texans have filed complaints with the FCC: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/blue-alert-texas-fcc-complaints-19817724.php
...The police officer who was shot is stable, and the suspect remains on the run: https://www.newschannel10.com/2024/10/07/search-man-wanted-memphis-police-chief-shooting-continues/
See Progress Texas' guide to fun events happening across the state during National Hispanic Heritage Month, which continues through October 15: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-texas-culture-national-hispanic-heritage-month
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A win for working folks and the Biden Administration as the International Longshoreman's Association strike ends, for now: https://www.salon.com/2024/10/04/dockworkers-union-scores-big-labor-victory-after-three-day-strike/
...The Port of Houston is thus back in business this morning: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/longshoreman-strike-suspended-houston-19814460.php
Could it be true? ERCOT is planning to connect the shaky Texas power grid to the national grid with a massive Biden/Harris administration investment: https://www.chron.com/news/article/texas-ercot-power-grid-energy-19814295.php
...Just in time for new massive demands on energy in Texas on the part of AI data centers: https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/04/texas_dc_power/
More news outlets are referring to Texas as a "battleground" with massive national Dem spends and narrowing numbers between Colin Allred and Ted Cruz: https://newrepublic.com/post/186728/republicans-ted-cruz-texas-battleground
...Cruz dodges questions about notorious anti-choice activist Troy Newman's role in his re-election campaign: https://newrepublic.com/article/186572/ted-cruz-troy-newman-antisemitism
A new law being considered in Texas would make it easier for both journalists and private citizens to be sued for things they say or write: https://www.kcbd.com/2023/05/18/free-speech-advocates-oppose-new-bill-texas-senate-deadline-nears/
See Progress Texas' guide to fun events happening across the state during National Hispanic Heritage Month, which continues through October 15: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-texas-culture-national-hispanic-heritage-month
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Ken Paxton is pressuring Secretary of State Jane Nelson to give him a list of Texas voters who don't have state driver's licenses or ID cards, in a continued, demonstrative "search" for illegal voters: https://www.hppr.org/hppr-news/2024-10-02/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-makes-another-attempt-to-find-illegal-voters
A reporter at KERA in Dallas who has been busy reporting on voters sent to Texas' "voter suspense" list checks her own status - and finds she's on the list herself: https://www.keranews.org/news/2024-10-03/texas-voters-are-in-suspense-and-a-kera-reporter-discovered-she-was-one
Former Illinois Congressman and current Houston-area resident Adam Kinzinger is leading a new charge for moderate Republicans and independents to defect and voter for Colin Allred: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/02/adam-kinzinger-republicans-colin-allred-texas/
The Texas Tribune is out with a solid new summary of the issues at play and the results at stake in next month's election: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/03/texas-2024-election-issues-to-watch/
...Reform Austin zeroes in on how the election will impact health care access in Texas: https://www.reformaustin.org/elections/2024-presidential-election-impact-on-texas-medicaid/
Little old Olney, Texas provides a stark example of the differences of opinion on immigration between Democrats and Republicans: https://www.olneyenterprise.com/news/texas-house-candidates-talk-immigration
See Progress Texas' guide to fun events happening across the state during National Hispanic Heritage Month, which continues through October 15: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-texas-culture-national-hispanic-heritage-month
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
We appreciate the invitation and great access from U.S. Congressman Greg Casar's office for yesterday's rally - one of several on a barnstorming trip through South and Central Texas this week - at the University of Texas at Austin's Hogg Auditorium, where well over one thousand Longhorns crammed in to hear from a who's-who of progressive luminaries! This podcast presents the full, unedited event.
The lineup: (00:56) Brian Peña, president of UT Austin's University Democrats, (02:37) Austin U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett, (10:40) Former U.S. Rep. and Powered By People honcho Beto O'Rourke, (20:00) Austin U.S. Congressman Greg Casar, (33:55) New York U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and (46:22) Vermont U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.
Thanks for listening! Progress Texas is part of our state's permanent progressive infrastructure - we'll be fighting on past the election, into a critical legislative year in Texas - and we could use your help! Find out more about ways to support our work at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Over 2,400 young Texas progressives have attended rallies led by Austin U.S. Rep. Greg Casar and Senator Bernie Sanders this week, with two more events happening in Austin today: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/01/bernie-sanders-texas-colin-allred-kamala-harris/
...Efforts like these are part of the reason voter registration in Texas has spiked over the last four years: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/election/2024/article/texas-voter-registration-groups-19786964.php
...And part of why Ted Cruz's numbers are dwindling: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4910340-texas-senate-cook-political-report/
Tim Walz outdid J.D. Vance in last night's Vice Presidential debate on Tex-centric issues including reproductive rights, energy, the climate, and the border: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/vice-presidential-debate-takeaways-19806990.php
See Progress Texas' guide to fun events happening across the state during National Hispanic Heritage Month, which continues through October 15: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-texas-culture-national-hispanic-heritage-month
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Six days remain to complete your registration to vote in the November election in Texas: https://govotetexas.org/
The International Longshoreman's Association has declared a strike, impacting ports from Maine to Texas: https://apnews.com/article/port-strike-ila-dockworkers-begins-e5468e760f46a64e4322d1702beb1f72
...This includes Port Houston, which is shut down this morning: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/30/longshoremen-strike-texas-port-houston/
Ken Paxton plans to appeal last week's decision by a federal judge that the new state law he's using to harrass South Texas voting access activists is unconstitutional: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/09/30/texas-ag-paxton-vows-to-reverse-ruling-over-election-integrity-law/
...Paxton has also filed yet another lawsuit, this time against the Travis County Commissioner's Court over money they allocated for security at District Attorney Jose Garza's home: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/local/2024/09/30/texas-ag-sues-travis-county-over-da-jose-garza-security-secrecy/75455259007/
Ted Cruz's recent attempts to rebrand himself as bipartisan are highly inconsistent with his voting record, which makes him one of the most partisan members of the U.S. Senate: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/9/30/2273837/-Ted-Cruz-lies-about-bipartisan-record-as-Texas-Senate-race-tightens
We salute President Jimmy Carter on his 100th birthday! https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/30/opinion/jimmy-carter-100th-birthday.html
A series of rallies featuring Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Central Texas U.S. Reps Greg Casar and Lloyd Doggett, New York U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Texas progressive standard-bearer Beto O'Rourke and more continues today and tomorrow in San Marcos and Austin: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/hill-country/article/aoc-bernie-sanders-beto-texas-state-rally-19804703.php
See Progress Texas' guide to fun events happening across the state during National Hispanic Heritage Month, which continues through October 15: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-texas-culture-national-hispanic-heritage-month
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A federal judge has found that the parts of the 2021 Senate Bill 1, imposing wide ranging new restrictions on voting access, are unconstitutional - bringing Ken Paxton's efforts against voting access advocates in South Texas to a halt: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/28/texas-vote-harvesting-law-unconstitutional/
Another lawsuit from Paxton - this time against the City of Austin over their abortion travel fund: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/state/2024/09/27/texas-ag-ken-paxton-sues-austin-over-abortion-help-fund/75393130007/
The Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee wants to be able to review abortion related deaths - currently inaccessible to them by state law - and also wants a reversal of changes that limited the voices of rural Texans on that committee: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/27/Texas-maternal-mortality-abortion-deaths/
The Trevor Project finds that states like Texas that have passed laws targeting transgender youth have seen a massive jump in suicide attempts among that group: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/texas-anti-trans-laws-19798019.php
...While Ted Cruz goes all in on anti-trans hate in his most recent TV ads: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/article/ted-cruz-colin-allred-transgender-athletes-19797497.php
...And in his mailers as well: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/colin-allred-trans-sports-19798080.php
See Progress Texas' guide to fun events happening across the state during National Hispanic Heritage Month, which continues through October 15: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-texas-culture-national-hispanic-heritage-month
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
Today is the last day of our September membership drive! We want to add 50 new members to the Progress Texas family in the form of regular monthly supporters at the $10, $25 or $50 level - if you join the team before the end of September, we'll hook you up with an exclusive invitation to our Holiday Party this December! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Texas Supreme Court has rejected a request by Attorney General Ken Paxton to force the State Fair of Texas, which opens today, to allow its patrons to bring in guns: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/state-fair/court-blocks-paxtons-appeal-guns-will-stay-banned-state-fair-of-texas-fair-park-dallas/287-1f9c3bb0-ec8d-4e17-beca-039fafb7ce13
...Still, Paxton continues his pre-election culture war agitation by hassling yet another immigrant advocacy non-profit - they're fighting back with the help of the Texas Civil Rights Project: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/26/texas-ken-paxton-las-americas-investigation-lawsuit-immigrants/
The campaign arm of the U.S. Senate Democrats has allocated a fresh multimillion dollar spend for Colin Allred in Texas: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/state/2024/09/27/ted-cruz-colin-allred-texas-u-s-senate-race-congress-flip-race/75393377007/
Federal election authorities have ordered the Texas Republican Party to re-submit their latest financial statement, as it leaves off a list of who's drawing a paycheck: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/feds-warn-texas-republican-party-over-failure-to-disclose-whos-on-its-payroll-35673278
Hispanic voters in Texas are increasingly seen as a must-win by any candidate seeking statewide success: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/politics/lone-star-politics/texas-election-competitive-hispanic-voters-key-role/3656096/?os=f&ref=app
See Progress Texas' guide to fun events happening across the state during National Hispanic Heritage Month, which continues through October 15: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-texas-culture-national-hispanic-heritage-month
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
And, our September membership drive is underway! We want to add 50 new members to the Progress Texas family in the form of regular monthly supporters at the $10, $25 or $50 level - if you join the team before the end of September, we'll hook you up with an exclusive invitation to our Holiday Party this December! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Ken Paxton, after being rebuffed by two lower courts, is pressing his push to force the State Fair of Texas to allow patrons to carry guns into their event to the Texas Supreme Court: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/paxton-challenges-texas-state-fair-firearms-ban-again-after-appeals-court-decision/
Paxton is also suing the Biden Administration over federal requirements to properly accommodate LGBTQ+ kids in state foster care: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/25/paxton-biden-lgbtq-foster-youth/
A new investigation shows widespread harm to Texas families and children as state officials rushed last year to kick 2 million Texans off Medicaid when pandemic-related funding ended: https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-medicaid-unwinding-consequences
Another new investigation shows degrees of violence inflicted by Operation Lone Star personnel against migrant families and children, in potential violation of international law: https://www.childrensdefense.org/blog/new-report-reveals-the-scale-of-state-violence-inflicted-on-migrant-children-and-families-under-operation-lonestar/
See Progress Texas' guide to fun events happening across the state during National Hispanic Heritage Month, which continues through October 15: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-texas-culture-national-hispanic-heritage-month
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
And, our September membership drive is underway! We want to add 50 new members to the Progress Texas family in the form of regular monthly supporters at the $10, $25 or $50 level - if you join the team before the end of September, we'll hook you up with an exclusive invitation to our Holiday Party this December! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Among the opportunities for the first statewide wins for Texas Democrats in 30 years are the SIX positions on the TWO top courts in our state's judicial system, ALL of which will be on your ballot in November, no matter where in Texas you live. These courts have been dominated by Republicans for generations, and it shows - it's far past time for a change.
We welcome Holly Taylor, Democratic nominee for the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals, and DeSean Jones and Christine Weems, nominees for the Texas Supreme Court, for a discussion of those courts, how they directly impact the daily lives of all Texans, and why a changing of the guard is long overdue.
Learn more about Holly Taylor: https://www.hollytforjudge.com/
Learn more about DeSean Jones: https://www.daseanfortexas.com/#/
Learn more about Christine Weems: https://www.weemsforjudge.com/
Still time to join the Progress Texas team by becoming a regular, recurring monthly donor during our September membership drive! Join us by the end of the month, and we'll send you an exclusive ticket to one of our holiday parties in Austin and Dallas this December! Go to https://progresstexas.org/donate.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Ken Paxton tries - and fails - to get a rubber stamp from the new 15th Court of Appeals in his fight to stop the State Fair of Texas from banning guns from its event, which starts Friday: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/24/ken-paxton-state-fair-gun-ban-appeals-court/
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff is on a swing through Texas, raising $1 million in Austin alongside tour guide Beto O'Rourke: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/24/doug-emhoff-beto-orourke-whataburger-texas-austin/
A small group of right wing activists in Texas have been submitting thousands of voter registration challenges: https://www.keranews.org/government/2024-09-25/voter-registration-challenges-texas-tarrant-dallas-collin-denton
Texas House Reps John Bucy, Gina Hinojosa and Sheryl Cole joined Evan Smith for a discussion at the LBJ School at the University of Texas yesterday: https://thedailytexan.com/2024/09/24/texas-house-democrats-discuss-voter-suppression-affordability-in-lbj-conversations-series/
Willie Nelson, in a "joint" video with Margo Price, gives a hearty endorsement to Colin Allred: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1838914038010388563
...Polling continues to show a VERY tight race between Allred and Cruz: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/09/24/ted-cruz-collin-allred-texas-senate-race-polls/75364884007/
Progress Texas staffers appreciate the invitation to a screening in Austin last night of the new documentary Zurawski v Texas: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/abortion-documentary-telluride-awards-insider
...Co-Executive Producer Chelsea Clinton talks about the film: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2358709311157415
See Progress Texas' guide to fun events happening across the state during National Hispanic Heritage Month, which continues through October 15: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-texas-culture-national-hispanic-heritage-month
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
And, our September membership drive is underway! We want to add 50 new members to the Progress Texas family in the form of regular monthly supporters at the $10, $25 or $50 level - if you join the team before the end of September, we'll hook you up with an exclusive invitation to our Holiday Party this December! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Four of the Republican challengers to House Speaker Dade Phelan have dropped out and pledged support for GOP Rep. David Cook of Mansfield: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/20/texas-house-speaker-david-cook-dade-phelan-republicans/
Both Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic Senatorial nominee Colin Allred have seen recent polling gains among Texas Hispanic likely voters: https://www.txhpf.org/2024/09/23/texas-hispanic-policy-foundation-survey-shows-trump-leads-harris-by-only-6-among-all-texas-likely-voters-with-44-days-left-until-election-day/
Conservative federal judge Reed O'Connor of Fort Worth blasts Biden administration moves against "judge shopping"...at a Federalist Society event: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/texas-judge-favored-by-conservatives-blasts-judge-shopping-reform-2024-09-23/
One of the six defendants in the "Trump Train" trial over that incident with a Biden campaign bus in 2020 has been found liable under the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act - the first such decision in modern times - while the other five defendants were cleared: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/courts/2024/09/23/texas-jury-trial-verdict-trump-train-organizers-wendy-davis-biden-harris-bus/75296175007/
Corey DeAngelis, a prominent anti-LGBTQ+ private school voucher proponent with frequent interactions with Texas Republican officeholders and activists, has been exposed as having once worked as a gay porn actor...not that there's anything wrong with that: https://www.advocate.com/people/corey-deangelis-gay-adult-films
See Progress Texas' guide to fun events happening across the state during National Hispanic Heritage Month, which continues through October 15: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-texas-culture-national-hispanic-heritage-month
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
And, our September membership drive is underway! We want to add 50 new members to the Progress Texas family in the form of regular monthly supporters at the $10, $25 or $50 level - if you join the team before the end of September, we'll hook you up with an exclusive invitation to our Holiday Party this December! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
New research shows an even starker picture of maternal morbidity in Texas, which has spiked 56% since 2021, compared to a national rise of 11%: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/womens-health/texas-abortion-ban-deaths-pregnant-women-sb8-analysis-rcna171631
Now funded primarily by oil billionaires and fearing defeat, the state GOP is planning to pour more money into South Texas races: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/16/texas-republican-party-south-texas-fundraising-outreach/
...Their advertising spokesman in South Texas is a 9/11 and COVID conspiracy theorist: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/20/south-texas-ad-election-2024-conspiracy-theorist/
Ken Paxton will appeal last week's denial of his attempt to block the State Fair of Texas' no-guns policy, in an early test of the brand new, Abbott-appointed 15th Court of Appeals: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas/2024/09/21/paxton-to-appeal-dallas-judges-ruling-on-state-fair-of-texas-gun-ban-policy/
A Lubbock man who helped storm the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 - and later ran for Congress - has received a three month federal prison sentence for his actions that day: https://www.everythinglubbock.com/news/local-news/lubbock-man-gets-some-federal-prison-time-for-jan-6-capitol-breach/
The game company Cards Against Humanity is suing Elon Musk and SpaceX for $15 million over their fouling of a property near the SpaceX launch site that Cards bought to block the Trump border wall in 2017: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/21/spacex-elon-musk-cards-against-humanity-lawsuit/
See Progress Texas' guide to fun events happening across the state during National Hispanic Heritage Month, which continues through October 15: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-texas-culture-national-hispanic-heritage-month
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
And, our September membership drive is underway! We want to add 50 new members to the Progress Texas family in the form of regular monthly supporters at the $10, $25 or $50 level - if you join the team before the end of September, we'll hook you up with an exclusive invitation to our Holiday Party this December! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A Dallas judge has denied Attorney General Ken Paxton's request to block a new policy enacted by the State Fair of Texas which will ban the carrying of guns into this fall's event: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/19/texas-state-fair-gun-ban-injunction-denied/
Paxton has sued (again) Harris County over its guaranteed income program for low income residents, even after it was revised to accommodate issues raised by the Texas Supreme Court: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/guaranteed-income-harris-county-19777648.php
Investigative reporter Steven Monacelli is looking into connections between the right wing group Dallas HERO, behind the petitions that have placed three problematic items on the November ballot, and Dallas businessman Monty Barrett, involving the Texas Supreme Court: https://x.com/stevanzetti/status/1827011105224335508
Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, will swing through Texas on a fundraising run next week: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/election/2024/article/doug-emhoff-texas-kamala-harris-19777026.php
The New Braunfels Trump Train federal trial may be nearing a conclusion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHWcKw_x9X4
...While the Dallas County Republican Party is planning a Trump Train of its own in Big D this Sunday: https://www.lonestarlive.com/news/2024/09/a-secret-trump-train-is-coming-to-dallas-this-weekend.html
See Progress Texas' guide to fun events happening across the state during National Hispanic Heritage Month, which continues through October 15: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-texas-culture-national-hispanic-heritage-month
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
And, our September membership drive is underway! We want to add 50 new members to the Progress Texas family in the form of regular monthly supporters at the $10, $25 or $50 level - if you join the team before the end of September, we'll hook you up with an exclusive invitation to our Holiday Party this December! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The annual report from the Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee shows a dramatic uptick in maternal deaths within one year of giving birth - being suffered mostly by Black and Hispanic mothers: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/18/maternal-mortality-2020-2021/
Ted Cruz has helped Republicans in the U.S. Senate avoid a vote on requiring insurance companies to pay for IVF treatments - they'd rather not be forced to say yes or no to a popular option that involves the destruction of unused embryos: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/election/2024/article/ted-cruz-ivf-colin-allred-19772025.php
Ken Paxton has left nine of the ten real estate properties he owns off of his legally-required financial statement to the Texas Ethics Commission: https://www.kut.org/2024-09-18/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-homes-houses-property-ownership-transparency-ethics
...San Antonio Rep. Trey Martinez-Fischer writes in an op-ed of his theory that Paxton's efforts against urban voter registration is out of the fear that those new voters will oppose his worldview: https://www.expressnews.com/opinion/commentary/article/ken-paxton-texas-voting-lawsuit-19766720.php
...Paxton appears to have pressured Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson into asking federal officials for help in verifying the citizenship of people registering to vote: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/texas-asks-government-for-help-verifying-voters-immigration-status-citizenship/287-278fb63b-ae50-45ba-b1c0-787997da67da
...Paxton has also left key information out of his warnings to voters not to try to register if they're not eligible: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/election/article292560309.html
See Progress Texas' guide to fun events happening across the state during National Hispanic Heritage Month, which continues through October 15: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-texas-culture-national-hispanic-heritage-month
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
And, our September membership drive is underway! We want to add 50 new members to the Progress Texas family in the form of regular monthly supporters at the $10, $25 or $50 level - if you join the team before the end of September, we'll hook you up with an exclusive invitation to our Holiday Party this December! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan, having barely survived a well-funded and Trump-endorsed MAGA primary challenge in his Beaumont district, has been counting on near-unified support of the Democratic minority in the House to secure his position as Speaker next year. Democratic Rep. Ana-María Rodríguez Ramos of Richardson isn't so sure that supporting a Republican who has presided over some of the worst lawmaking in Texas history is a great idea for Democrats - so she's joined the race for Speaker herself! Rep. Ramos joins us to discuss her strategy - which, as you might guess, involves YOU and YOUR vote this fall.
See Rep. Ramos' awesome campaign video here: https://x.com/Ramos4Texas/status/1835690473832296677/video/1
And learn more about her here: https://www.ramos4texas.com/
Thanks for listening! Progress Texas offers ALL of our content for FREE, with no paywalls or subscriptions, because we believe our messages are important for ALL Texans to access - so, we could use your support during our September membership drive. If you become a recurring monthly supporter at the $10, $25, or $50 level before the end of September, we'll send you an exclusive ticket to join us for our upcoming holiday parties in Austin and Dallas! Hit https://progresstexas.org/donate.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Officials in Travis County have sued Attorney General Ken Paxton and Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson over their efforts to stop Travis County from sending voter registration applications to eligible but non-registered voters: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/17/texas-voter-registration-ken-paxton-jane-nelson-lawsuit-travis/
Tarrant County Republicans are upset with their own representatives on that county's Commissioner's Court who backed down from plans to eliminate college campus polling locations: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/18/tarrant-county-gop-college-voting-locations-election-advantage/
A massive new Republican election advertising campaign focuses on stoking anti-LGBTQ hate: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/18/ted-cruz-republicans-texas-transgender-rights-election-2024/
New research shows that about half of Republicans will not accept the results of the November election if Trump doesn't win: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/09/17/half-republicans-wont-accept-trump-loss-2024/75142477007/
That pipeline fire in suburban Houston was burning into a third day as of midnight last night: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/energy-transfer-pipeline-continues-burn-la-porte-texas-2024-09-17/
...No info about the driver who ignited the fire has been released: https://komonews.com/news/nation-world/texans-on-edge-as-pipeline-fire-continues-to-burn-with-no-end-in-sight-flames-blaze-deer-park-la-porte-houston-valve-explosion-crash-driver-investigation-fbi-explosion-smoke
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
And, our September membership drive is underway! We want to add 50 new members to the Progress Texas family in the form of regular monthly supporters at the $10, $25 or $50 level - if you join the team before the end of September, we'll hook you up with an exclusive invitation to our Holiday Party this December! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A minor car crash caused that massive petrochemical pipeline fire in the eastern Houston suburbs yesterday: https://apnews.com/article/pipeline-fire-texas-659141b9f88ed2b324c36fce2735746f
...The pipeline is owned by Energy Transfer, led by oil billionaire Kelcy Warren: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pipeline-fire-erupts-la-porte-texas-prompting-evacuations-2024-09-16/
...Houston area Representative Gene Wu says we might know what chemicals are being burned into East Houston's air, had Republicans not voted against that rule: https://x.com/GeneforTexas/status/1835858167130984651
...Dramatic aerial footage of the flames from the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/cdxrr7dz412o
...We talked to petrochemical engineer Chuck Crews, Democratic opponent to Republican Texas House incumbent Briscoe Cain of Deer Park, about all of this yesterday: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/breaking-news-minipod-la-porte-texas-pipeline-explosion/id1552998795?i=1000669739509
Ken Paxton's legal maneuvers to stop Bexar County officials from sending out unsolicited voter registration applications have been shut down by a San Antonio judge: https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/16/politics/ken-paxton-bexar-county-texas-voter-registration/index.html
Liz Cheney was campaigning against Ted Cruz in Dallas with U.S. Rep. Colin Allred yesterday: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/09/16/liz-cheney-is-not-a-fan-of-ted-cruz-the-junior-senator-from-texas/
...Cruz does have his backers, though - including one of the country's most notorious anti-abortion crusaders: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/09/ted-cruz-touted-the-endorsement-troy-newman-executing-abortion-providers/
TODAY is National Voter Registration Day, and our friends at MOVE Texas are activated across the state: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-170-gearing-up-for-national-voter-registration/id1552998795?i=1000669634900
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
And, our September membership drive is underway! We want to add 50 new members to the Progress Texas family in the form of regular monthly supporters at the $10, $25 or $50 level - if you join the team before the end of September, we'll hook you up with an exclusive invitation to our Holiday Party this December! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Harris County residents are coping with evacuations, road closures, and shelter in place orders today after a pipeline fire exploded in La Porte. The local ABC news affiliate is reporting nearby homes catching fire. The Democratic (and Progress Texas endorsed) candidate running to serve La Porte and unseat election denier and MAGA incumbent Briscoe Cain, is Chuck Crews, a petro-chemical engineer. Chuck spoke with Advocacy Manager Reagan Stone after seeing what looks like a fire tornado with a near 100-foot plume about why these events can’t be normalized and what climate voters and everyday Texans can do to ensure existing protections aren’t rolled back in the next Texas Legislative session.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Republican efforts to legitimize their false narrative over illegal voting by migrants - a problem that doesn't actually exist - now threatens a government shutdown on October 1: https://www.kxan.com/state-of-texas/house-facing-shutdown-deadline/
...Republican-led states across the country have hit new records for "anti-immigrant" bills and resolutions, according to LULAC - with Texas leading the way: https://thehill.com/latino/4877006-anti-immigrant-laws-southern-border-texas-abbott-lulac/
...Florida, meanwhile, leads the way in scaring Latino away from hospitals by asking about immigration status, but Texas will follow suit as of November 1: https://apnews.com/article/immigration-hospitals-florida-texas-desantis-abbott-21faed1d4d1b984ea3557d09f22dab9d
...Arlington Rep. Chris Turner calls this new hospital policy an "immigration stunt" on the part of Governor Abbott: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/state-representative-calls-texas-governors-executive-order-an-immigration-stunt/287-b9a2b926-8b0b-4077-8e24-e9b850a39592
Donald Trump's senior campaign advisor trolled Ted Cruz on social media this weekend over Cruz's tight race against Colin Allred - all while Trump has still not endorsed Cruz: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-adviser-chris-lacivita-ted-cruz-real-professionals_n_66e663c1e4b0e9e4c582c698
Democratic House Rep. Ana-Maria Rodriguez Ramos has thrown her hat in the ring for the House Speakership - possibly complicating things for current Speaker Dade Phelan, who will need big Democratic support to fend off his Republican challengers: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/15/ana-maria-ramos-texas-house-speaker-democrat/
Turns out Elon Musk largely bankrolled that expensive and shady smear campaign during the primary against Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza: https://www.kut.org/politics/2024-09-13/elon-musk-travis-county-district-attorney-jose-garza-2024-democratic-primary-election-wall-street-journal
Tomorrow is National Voter Registration Day, and our friends at MOVE Texas are activated across the state: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-170-gearing-up-for-national-voter-registration/id1552998795?i=1000669634900
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
And, our September membership drive is underway! We want to add 50 new members to the Progress Texas family in the form of regular monthly supporters at the $10, $25 or $50 level - if you join the team before the end of September, we'll hook you up with an exclusive invitation to our Holiday Party this December! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
This Tuesday, September 17, is National Voter Registration Day - and in light of recent events, including Ken Paxton's harrassment of Latino voting rights activists in South Texas, as well as moves by elected Republicans to curtail early voting locations on North Texas college campuses, this year's NVRD is hugely important. And so, we're proud to welcome two representatives of MOVE Texas, one of the Lone Star State's premiere organizations dedicated to bringing the joy of voting to as many Texans as possible. Thanks to MOVE Texas Political Director Stephanie Gomez, and Communications Manager Tori Falcon for joining us!
Learn more about MOVE Texas at https://movetexas.org/.
Learn more about National Voter Registration Day at https://nationalvoterregistrationday.org/.
Thanks for listening - and please consider joining our team in a more meaningful way by becoming one of our montly sustaining supporters, a group that forms the backbone of our ongoing funding! If you sign up before the end of September, you'll get a ticket for one of our upcoming December holiday parties in Dallas and Austin! Go to https://progresstexas.org/donate.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A massive display of public outrage over Tarrant County Commissioners' plan to scrap several early voting locations on college campuses in the Fort Worth area has stopped those plans in their tracks: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/12/tarrant-county-college-voting-location/
...While LULAC responds to Ken Paxton's voter suppression attempts in South Texas with a national get-out-the-vote drive: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/latino-civil-rights-activists-step-voter-registration-texas-ag-paxton-rcna170931
It's unfortunately unsurprising that a new report finds Texas dead last in the nation for the health insurance coverage of our children: https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2024/09/13/study-texas-has-the-highest-uninsured-rate-among-children/
Texas, however, now leads the nation (by far) in our currently-in-development renewable energy infrastructure construction: https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/clean-energy/chart-texas-plans-to-build-far-more-clean-energy-than-any-other-state
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
And, our September membership drive is underway! We want to add 50 new members to the Progress Texas family in the form of regular monthly supporters at the $10, $25 or $50 level - if you join the team before the end of September, we'll hook you up with an exclusive invitation to our Holiday Party this December! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Three Democratic candidates in Tarrant County are threatening a lawsuit if County Commissioners vote to reduce the number of early voting locations on local college campuses: https://fortworthreport.org/2024/09/11/democrats-threaten-lawsuit-as-tarrant-commissioners-debate-reducing-campus-poll-sites/
The Texas Supreme Court has ordered the Dallas City Council to remove funding amendments it had placed on the November ballot alongside petition-driven initiatives brought by a right-wing activist group: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas-supreme-court-orders-dallas-remove-three-charter-amendments-from-november-ballot/287-b4d67bd5-9316-4821-80ad-e62e80534ca6
A new Colin Allred campaign ad features a Granbury U.S. Marine veteran who tried - and failed - to get help from Ted Cruz in the matter of the Russian imprisonment of his son, also a Marine veteran: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/12/trevor-reed-russia-colin-allred-ted-cruz/
...Here's the ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuahjfdAfQo
Cruz is also under fire for his sharing of that racist "migrant cat-eating" meme, which may have led to Donald Trump's spectacular debate meltdown: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/ted-cruz-blasted-for-sharing-false-racist-meme-about-migrants-eating-pets-35528443
...In addition to the very high entertainment level, we find FIVE primary takeways from Tuesday's debate for Texas progressives: https://progresstexas.org/blog/5-progressive-takeaways-harris-trump-debate
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
And, our September membership drive is underway! We want to add 50 new members to the Progress Texas family in the form of regular monthly supporters at the $10, $25 or $50 level - if you join the team before the end of September, we'll hook you up with an exclusive invitation to our Holiday Party this December! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Progressives across America are elated at Vice President Kamala Harris' amazing performance last night in the debate against Donald Trump: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/11/harris-trump-debate-takeaways
...The issues of abortion rights, immigration and climate change have particular relevance in Texas: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/election/2024/article/trump-harris-debate-takeaways-19752782.php
...Watch the whole thing here: https://www.youtube.com/live/VgsC_aBquUE?si=dn-ssqMGASo5ySZR
Childless cat lady Taylor Swift has endorsed VP Harris: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/taylor-swift-says-she-will-vote-kamala-harris-2024-09-11/
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has released a new list of culture war priorities for the Senate in the upcoming Lege, none of which will improve the lives of Texans: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/10/dan-patrick-interim-charges-senate-texas-legislature/
LULAC is pressing federal authorities to intervene in Ken Paxton's ongoing voter suppression and intimidation campaign against Latino candidates and voters: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/texas/lulac-raids-texas-attorney-general-investigation/285-58932b1a-12f1-4784-aa83-1a747f8f86b9
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
And, our September membership drive is underway! We want to add 50 new members to the Progress Texas family in the form of regular monthly supporters at the $10, $25 or $50 level - if you join the team before the end of September, we'll hook you up with an exclusive invitation to our Holiday Party this December! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
With much at stake, Texas progressives are confident in Vice President Kamala Harris to perform well in tonight's debate - though the hangover from the last one still lingers: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/10/harris-and-trump-make-final-preparations-ahead-of-crucial-presidential-debate-in-philadelphia
Your debate bingo cards are here: https://progresstexas.org/blog/harris-trump-debate-expectations-and-bingo-cards
...And RSVP for the Dallas debate watch party that Progress Texas is co-hosting tonight: https://www.mobilize.us/nathanjohnsoncampaign/event/683642/
One thing to watch tonight: Donald Trump's shot, and now miraculously 100% healed, right ear: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/donald-trump-ear-campaign-assassination-attempt.html
Tim Walz was in Dallas yesterday for a fundraiser, though to the consternation of some Texas Democrats, the Harris campaign has still not targeted Texas as a flip opportunity: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/09/walz-texas-senate-race/
North Texas residents discuss the balance of the race for Senate between Ted Cruz and Colin Allred, with one respondent sporting Progress Texas' mega-stylish Humans Against Ted Cruz t-shirt: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/election/article291999660.html
The effort to limit on-campus voting in Tarrant County continues by Republican County Commissioners, who have scheduled a vote on early voting locations when its two Democratic members are out of town on Thursday: https://www.keranews.org/government/2024-09-09/tarrant-county-early-voting-at-colleges
Parents and education advocates from across Texas are in Austin today to grill the State Board of Education on new TEA-approved elementary school materials that have been infused with Christian Bible lessons: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/education/2024/09/09/texas-elementary-students-learn-bible-curriculum-public-schools-tea/75073684007/
UT Austin has been placed near the bottom of a national rundown of college campuses ranked by freedom of expression on campus: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/education/university-of-texas/ut-austin-rated-one-of-worst-universities-public-free-speech/269-f0619e73-d66a-4dc5-a0a1-7e09b6f1df7b
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
And, our September membership drive is underway! We want to add 50 new members to the Progress Texas family in the form of regular monthly supporters at the $10, $25 or $50 level - if you join the team before the end of September, we'll hook you up with an exclusive invitation to our Holiday Party this December! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Tribfest '24 is a wrap, and highlights included a Kamala Harris endorsement from Liz Cheney...and her infamous father: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/08/texas-tribune-festival-highlights/
...Cheney also endorsed Dallas Congressman Colin Allred in his race against Ted Cruz: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/07/collin-allred-defends-campaign-strategy/
New polling shows a narrow 5 point lead for Donald Trump over Harris in Texas - but also immense enthusiasm among Democrats for Harris' candidacy: https://www.keranews.org/texas-news/2024-09-06/new-poll-shows-trump-leads-harris-in-texas-but-enthusiasm-among-democrats-is-on-the-rise
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller sounds the alarm that Texas is beginning to run out of water: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/texas-agriculture-commissioner-sound-alarm-says-texas-is-running-out-of-water/287-f9fea38a-9a77-4f85-b495-72dd9e6dba7e
Texas oil billionaire Kelsy Warren may be on the verge of a major legal victory against Greenpeace: https://www.wsj.com/business/energy-oil/the-texas-billionaire-who-has-greenpeace-usa-on-the-verge-of-bankruptcy-04492d4c
What would a second Trump term mean for Texas? It ain't pretty: https://www.texasobserver.org/trump-second-term-texas/
The Harris/Trump debate is Tuesday - grab your debate bingo cards: https://progresstexas.org/blog/harris-trump-debate-expectations-and-bingo-cards
...And RSVP for the Dallas debate watch party that Progress Texas is co-hosting on Tuesday night: https://www.mobilize.us/nathanjohnsoncampaign/event/683642/
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
And, our September membership drive is underway! We want to add 50 new members to the Progress Texas family in the form of regular monthly supporters at the $10, $25 or $50 level - if you join the team before the end of September, we'll hook you up with an exclusive invitation to our Holiday Party this December! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
A great hang today at Progress Texas' HQ at the wonderful Hideout Coffee (https://www.hideouttheatre.com/coffeehouse/) during the annual TribFest event in Austin! THANKS to everyone who stopped by to say hi, pick up the merch to match your values, and learn more about Progress Texas and all the great stuff we do. We enjoyed a couple of quick podcast sessions today as well - one with Dallas State Rep. Rafael Anchia, and another with Austin City Council Member Paige Ellis and her hubby (and former Progress Texas President), renowned media consultant Ed Espinoza - great talks on the exciting moment we're experiencing in Texas politics, how YOU can help bring about progressive change in the Lone Star State, and lots more.
Learn more about Rep. Rafael Anchia at https://rafaelanchia.com/.
Learn more about Austin City Council Member Paige Ellis at https://www.paigeforaustin.org/.
And learn more about Ed Espinoza at https://www.edespinoza.com/.
Thanks for listening! Keep in mind that our September membership drive is ongoing, and if you sign up as a recurring donor at the $10, $25 or $50 level before the end of the month, we'll kick you a ticket to one of our December Holiday Parties, in both Austin and Dallas! Hit https://progresstexas.org/donate.
After 14 years, most folks who are active in progressive politics in Texas have an idea of what exactly Progress Texas is and does - but, it occurs to us that, over the last handful of years, there are a great many of you who know us from our podcasts and digital media, but may not have the full story. We've assembled most of the PT crew, plus for the first time, board member Alex Andrade, for a tour through what we do, how we do it, and most importantly, WHY.
The hard fact is, our conservative opposition have done a much better job at the financial end of things - between oil billionaires, corporate PACs and religious groups (not to mention foreign dictatorships), right-wing messaging orgs generally don't have the funding challenges that groups like ours on the progressive side do. We operate without subscriptions or paywalls, because we consider the messages we craft to be important for ALL to see and share - so, we need your help! We're looking to add 50 new regular, recurring donors to the PT team between now and the end of September, and you can pitch in for as little as $10 per month to help us keep on truckin'. Go to https://progresstexas.org/donate to sign up - and for your trouble, if you do so before the end of September, we'll be sending you an invitation to join us at our Austin or Dallas Holiday Parties this December!
Thanks for listening, which itself helps us keep going. We appreciate you!
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Attorney General Ken Paxton's office has sued the Biden Administration over a new rule protecting the private information of women who have left Texas seeking abortion services: https://www.reuters.com/legal/texas-sues-block-biden-rule-protecting-privacy-women-who-get-abortions-2024-09-05/
From the hassling of Democrats at their homes, to the suing of counties over voter outreach, to the pursuit of non-profits who help migrants, the state is in a full court press against Latino voters in Texas: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ken-paxton-greg-abbott-lawsuits-warrants-raids_n_66d9b07ee4b06ce2f28f10d0
Governor Abbott has spent over $221 million to transport about 120,000 migrants to "sanctuary cities" - which comes to $1,841 per one-way bus ticket: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/immigration/3141777/texas-busing-migrants-border-costs/#google_vignette
The trial against the members of the "Trump Train" who endangered a Biden/Harris campaign bus on IH-35 between Austin and New Braunfels in the leadup to the 2020 election starts today in Austin: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/06/biden-bus-trump-train-trial/
Looking to preserve his post as Speaker of the House, Beaumont Rep. Dade Phelan has brought former Governor Rick Perry onto his team: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/politics/texas-legislature/rick-perry-dade-phelan-senior-advisor-texas/269-10d784cb-33cf-4158-a6c6-3383496c491c
Speaking at TribFest, San Antonio GOP Congressman Tony Gonzalez predicts that his party will lose control of the U.S. House this fall: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/05/rep-gonzales-republicans-house-election/
TribFest is underway in Austin, and Progress Texas will set up our official HQ during the FREE Open Congress event on Saturday September 7 at Hideout Coffee at 7th and Congress! We'll be live all day recording for the podcast, hanging out with progressive activists including YOU, and moving our stylish merch. Come see us! https://festival.texastribune.org/event/651560b0-5404-4ea0-b75e-8725c648826d/websitePage:64071bfd-7c25-49f7-a1ca-90f3fa6ff376
The Harris/Trump debate is Tuesday - grab your debate bingo cards: https://progresstexas.org/blog/harris-trump-debate-expectations-and-bingo-cards
...And RSVP for the Dallas debate watch party that Progress Texas is co-hosting on Tuesday night: https://www.mobilize.us/nathanjohnsoncampaign/event/683642/
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
And, our September membership drive is underway! We want to add 50 new members to the Progress Texas family in the form of regular monthly supporters at the $10, $25 or $50 level - if you join the team before the end of September, we'll hook you up with an exclusive invitation to our Holiday Party this December! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Ken Paxton, as threatened, has filed a lawsuit against Bexar County over their program to register more voters in the San Antonio area: https://newrepublic.com/post/185585/ken-paxton-threatens-sue-democrats-voter-registration
...He's also poised to similarly sue Harris County over their efforts to increase voter registration in Houston - all part of longstanding GOP efforts against urban and Latino voters: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/04/us/texas-voter-registration-paxton-bexar.html
...Our urban centers voted overwhelmingly for Joe Biden in 2020, which is likely the real motivation for Paxton's tactics: https://www.reuters.com/legal/texas-attorney-general-sues-bexar-county-over-mail-in-voter-registrations-2024-09-05/
...Democratic elected officials in Texas are calling for federal intervention against Paxton's voter suppression efforts: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2024/09/04/ken-paxton-texas-attorney-general-voter-fraud-democrats-want-doj-investigation/75071421007/
...Tarrant County commissioners vote along party lines to reject a plan to open 50 early voting sites around Fort Worth: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/article291928425.html
TribFest starts TODAY in Austin, and Progress Texas will set up our official HQ during the FREE Open Congress event on Saturday September 7 at Hideout Coffee at 7th and Congress! We'll be live all day recording for the podcast, hanging out with progressive activists including YOU, and moving our stylish merch. Come see us! https://festival.texastribune.org/event/651560b0-5404-4ea0-b75e-8725c648826d/websitePage:64071bfd-7c25-49f7-a1ca-90f3fa6ff376
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
And, our September membership drive is underway! We want to add 50 new members to the Progress Texas family in the form of regular monthly supporters at the $10, $25 or $50 level - if you join the team before the end of September, we'll hook you up with an exclusive invitation to our Holiday Party this December! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Officials in Bexar County have voted to move forward with plans to mail voter registration forms to unregistered voters in spite of threats of a lawsuit by Ken Paxton: https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/bexar-county-hire-voter-firm-19740080.php
The Texas Department of State Health Services has followed a similar policy at Texas DPS in denying trans Texans from changing the sex listed on their birth certificates: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/03/texas-transgender-birth-certificates/
The Texas chapter of the American Federation of Teachers has unveiled its Educator's Bill Of Rights, which they intend to bring before the Texas Legislature next year: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/education/texas-teachers-union-pushing-stronger-public-school-protections/287-6eb18a34-5697-499d-97b2-e50ce6ddfa69
...While public school districts struggle with teachers lacking proper certification: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/04/texas-uncertified-teachers-staff-shortages/
Ted Cruz would really like for you to forget the key role he has played in undermining reproductive freedom and abortion rights in Texas: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/03/ted-cruz-texas-senate-election-abortion-record
Arizona Senator Mark Kelly will take part in a fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday September 13 in Fort Worth: https://secure.kamalaharris.com/a/paiorhjgqjnzkdjsgn
Deposed State Rep. Shawn Thierry shows her true colors in an interview with Fox News' Laura Ingraham, who herself has little time for the outgoing turncoat: https://www.foxnews.com/video/6361472377112
TribFest starts tomorrow in Austin, and Progress Texas will set up our official HQ during the FREE Open Congress event on Saturday September 7 at Hideout Coffee at 7th and Congress! We'll be live all day recording for the podcast, hanging out with progressive activists including YOU, and moving our stylish merch. Come see us! https://festival.texastribune.org/event/651560b0-5404-4ea0-b75e-8725c648826d/websitePage:64071bfd-7c25-49f7-a1ca-90f3fa6ff376
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
And, our September membership drive is underway! We want to add 50 new members to the Progress Texas family in the form of regular monthly supporters at the $10, $25 or $50 level - if you join the team before the end of September, we'll hook you up with an exclusive invitation to our Holiday Party this December! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Ken Paxton has warned officials in Harris and Bexar Counties that he believes their plans to send voter registration materials to unregistered voters is illegal: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/harris-county/texas-ag-ken-paxton-warning-letter-harris-county-commissioners-court-voter-registration-forms/285-cef860b9-edf1-4c7a-bbcf-c2d149cecadb
...As Republicans spread fear of legal reprisals for helping others register and vote, the Texas Tribune spells out what's legal and what's not: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/03/texas-voter-assistance-registration-mail-in-ballots-guide/
Texas oil billionaires are dumping millions into Trump's campaign in the hopes that he'll allow them to continue fouling the environment unchecked if he wins: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/trump-clean-energy-tax-credits-19723822.php
Another reason the Trump party is nervous: new polling finds Ted Cruz leading Colin Allred by less than the 2.5 point margin Cruz squeaked by Beto O'Rourke in 2018: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/texas-senate-race-between-allred-and-cruz-heats-up-as-excitement-for-harris-grows/
A bunch of new laws took effect in Texas on Sunday, September 1: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/texas/new-laws-in-texas-september-1-2024/285-1d37cf4b-94f9-40b6-9548-cba969b6df00
...One of those, the SCOPE Act designed to protect children online, has been partially blocked due to vague wording: https://abc13.com/post/texas-scope-act-blocked-robert-pitman-social-media-filters-blocked/15261423/
Chip Roy says progressives should get out of Texas - and native Texans remind Chip Roy that he's from Maryland: https://www.alternet.org/chip-roy-texas/
TribFest is this weekend! Progress Texas will set up our official HQ during the FREE Open Congress event on Saturday September 7 at Hideout Coffee at 7th and Congress! We'll be live all day recording for the podcast, hanging out with progressive activists including YOU, and moving our stylish merch. Come see us! https://festival.texastribune.org/event/651560b0-5404-4ea0-b75e-8725c648826d/websitePage:64071bfd-7c25-49f7-a1ca-90f3fa6ff376
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
And, our September membership drive is underway! We want to add 50 new members to the Progress Texas family in the form of regular monthly supporters at the $10, $25 or $50 level - if you join the team before the end of September, we'll hook you up with an exclusive invitation to our Holiday Party this December! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texas Republicans are underway with a broad, coordinated attempt to stoke racist fear of Hispanic migrants, intimidate Latino Texans away from the polls, and undermine general confidence in our elections system: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4854249-texas-immigration-strategies-republicans-democrats/
Yet another Texas judge has stopped Ken Paxton from harrassing yet another non-profit group dedicated to humanitarian support for migrants: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/29/texas-attorney-general-deposition-migrant-aid-group-brownsville/
Republicans have stepped in to stop a program to activate unregistered voters in Harris County: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/29/texas-attorney-general-deposition-migrant-aid-group-brownsville/
Paxton has launched a tipline and e-mail address designed to field tips by Texans who suspect they've witnessed someone voting illegally - yet another way to target ALL Latino voters: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/texas-attorney-general-launches-illegal-voting-tipline/
Democrats in the Houston area gathered yesterday for a press conference to decry these Republican efforts to upend the election: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/texas-voter-purge-warning-ballots-abbott-rcna168811
...Link to watch: https://www.facebook.com/RepMorales145/videos/-watch-live-press-conference-on-voter-registration-suspension-who-rep-gene-wu-re/493352966821243
...Check out our conversation with Democratic House nominee Cecilia Castellano and State Senator Roland Gutierrez: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/happy-hour-168-inside-ken-paxton-political-raids-cecilia-castellano-and-sen-roland
Progress Texas will set up our official HQ during TribFests' Open Congress on Saturday September 7 at Hideout Coffee at 7th and Congress! We'll be live all day recording for the podcast, hanging out with progressive activists including YOU, and moving our stylish merch. Come see us - it's free! https://festival.texastribune.org/event/651560b0-5404-4ea0-b75e-8725c648826d/websitePage:64071bfd-7c25-49f7-a1ca-90f3fa6ff376
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
And, our September membership drive starts this weekend! We want to add 50 new members to the Progress Texas family in the form of regular monthly supporters at the $10, $25 or $50 level - if you join the team before the end of September, we'll hook you up with an exclusive invitation to our Holiday Party this December! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
The entire country has been transfixed at the recent blatant, racist weaponization of Texas law enforcement against Latino political candidates and Democratic activists in South Texas - all while our Governor celebrates the purging of over 1 million voters from our rolls. The desperation of the Trump party to cling to power at all costs has never been more obvious, and their tactics never more brazen. We're proud to welcome the Democratic nominee for Texas House District 80, Cecilia Castellano, who herself was targeted by Ken Paxton's harrassment in her home - and we also welcome back State Senator Roland Gutierrez, who once again is in the position of calling out Republican malfeasance in his district.
Learn more about Cecilia Castellano and her campaign at https://cecilia4texas.com/.
Learn more about Senator Roland Gutierrez at https://rolandfortexas.com/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
It's no surprise that the House District 80 race is the target of Ken Paxton's voter suppression efforts - that seat is seen as very important to the Texas GOP: https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a61987103/ken-paxton-texas-latino-activists/
...Paxton's blatant efforts are inspiring voting rights advocates nationwide to step up their game: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/28/us/politics/voters-texas-raids.html
...Governor Greg Abbott's boasts of over one million voters nixed from voter rolls is part of this anti-Latino push - with plenty of time left for their plans to backfire: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/28/us/texas-voter-rolls-abbott.html
Abbott also has plans to seal the border...with fellow U.S. state New Mexico, ostensibly over undocumented migrants, but also likely connected to abortion and/or cannabis: https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/immigration/border-coverage/abbott-border-new-mexico-texas/
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick announces a new PAC that will make it easier for billionaires to slide fat donations to the GOP majority in the Texas Senate: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/28/dan-patrick-texas-senate-pac/
Progress Texas will set up our official HQ during TribFests' Open Congress on Saturday September 7 at Hideout Coffee at 7th and Congress! We'll be live all day recording for the podcast, hanging out with progressive activists including YOU, and moving our stylish merch. Come see us - it's free! https://festival.texastribune.org/event/651560b0-5404-4ea0-b75e-8725c648826d/websitePage:64071bfd-7c25-49f7-a1ca-90f3fa6ff376
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Ken Paxton's raids in South Texas on Democratic politicos likely hinges on new restrictions on voting access activism, enacted as reaction to false election claims related to the 2020 election: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/28/ken-paxton-south-texas-vote-harvesting-investigation-politiqueras-hist/
...Greg Abbott's chest-puffing over illegally registered non-citizen voters kicked off the rolls are also designed to instill fear and undermine faith in our elections: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/27/greg-abbott-voter-rolls-texas/
...An opinion piece for MSNBC notes that an attack on Latino voters may turn out to be poorly timed for Donald Trump, who needs their votes to regain power: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/texas-ken-paxton-lulac-doj-rcna168224
A new and tragic consequence of Texas' near-complete ban on abortion: an uptick in abandoned babies: https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2024/08/21/6-babies-abandoned-throughout-harris-county-in-3-months/
...While the group "Women For Allred", spearheaded by several well-known reproductive rights activists in Texas, kicked off in Dallas last week: https://www.lonestarlive.com/news/2024/08/doctors-women-denied-abortions-in-texas-kick-off-women-for-allred-campaign.html
...NBC News features these brave Texas women: https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/abortion-rights-battle-grows-in-texas-217927749640
...The Texas Tribune highlights Amanda Zurawski: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/27/amanda-zurawksi-politics-democratic-national-convention-texas-abortion/
...Colin Allred is within the margin of error against Ted Cruz in two recent polls: https://www.newsweek.com/colin-allred-ted-cruz-poll-texas-senate-race-close-1944716
Progress Texas will set up our official HQ during TribFests' Open Congress on Saturday September 7 at Hideout Coffee at 7th and Congress! We'll be live all day recording for the podcast, hanging out with progressive activists including YOU, and moving our stylish merch. Come see us - it's free! https://festival.texastribune.org/event/651560b0-5404-4ea0-b75e-8725c648826d/websitePage:64071bfd-7c25-49f7-a1ca-90f3fa6ff376
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Governor Abbott announces the removal of 1.1 million Texans from the voter rolls, including over 6,000 he accuses of registering illegally: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/abbott-decries-noncitizen-voters-activists-19723919.php
...Over half of those are Texans who have sat out of voting in presidential cycles since 2016 and have moved since without updating their registration: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/politics/texas-strong-clean-voter-rolls-ahead-of-november-election/269-e801300c-b394-4f72-af4b-d6bfc0bd08ab
Uproar continues building over Ken Paxton's aggressive raids of voter access activists in the San Antonio area last week: https://news4sanantonio.com/news/local/lulac-wants-us-justice-department-to-investigate-voter-fraud-raids
...Paxton's case is based on a complaint by the loser of a Democratic primary in south Texas, and the crime is helping others vote: https://thehill.com/homenews/4848094-paxton-probe-texas-democratic-candidate/
Texas DPS is planning to invest heavily in software that will allow them to track your location without a warrant or subpoena: https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-dps-surveillance-tangle-cobwebs/
Progress Texas will set up our official HQ during TribFests' Open Congress on Saturday September 7 at Hideout Coffee at 7th and Congress! We'll be live all day recording for the podcast, hanging out with progressive activists including YOU, and moving our stylish merch. Come see us - it's free! https://festival.texastribune.org/event/651560b0-5404-4ea0-b75e-8725c648826d/websitePage:64071bfd-7c25-49f7-a1ca-90f3fa6ff376
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
With Kamala Harris and Tim Walz inspiring people across the country to believe in American politics once again, YOU might be wondering how to up your game when it comes to political activism. You may not realize that, depending on where you live, there are likely multiple Democratic clubs already active in your community and ready to welcome you into the fold! We talked to the leaders of three Texas clubs that have distinguished themselves in reach, innovation and electoral results to see what works, what doesn't, and to explore the vital role that our clubs play in Democratic politics in Texas.
Learn more about Ginny Laughlin and Richardson Area Dems at https://rad.vote/.
Learn more about Carrie Collier-Brown and Texas Blue Action at https://www.texasblueaction.com/.
And, learn more about Art Pronin and Meyerland Area Democrats at http://www.meydems.org/.
To find a club near you, look up your county Democratic party's website, and you should find a list. Here are a few of those:
Dallas County clubs: https://www.dallasdemocrats.org/action/clubs-and-organizations/
Tarrant County clubs: https://tarrantdemocrats.org/club-directory/
Harris County clubs: https://www.harrisdemocrats.org/clubs
Bexar County clubs: https://www.bexardemocrat.org/clubs--organizations.html
Travis County clubs: https://www.traviscountydemocrats.org/democratic-clubs
Collin County clubs: https://www.collindemocrats.org/democratic-local-clubs/
Denton County clubs: https://www.dentondemocrats.org/clubs
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can help us continue our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Officers under the orders of Attorney General Ken Paxton's office aggressively raided the homes of Democratic House candidate Cecilia Castellano and several other Latino politicos in south Texas, including an 87-year-old retired teacher: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/24/ken-paxton-vote-harvesting-raid-lulac-cecilia-castellano/
...LULAC has called on the U.S. Department of Justice to open an investigation into Paxton's raids: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/25/us/texas-latinos-democrats-raids-paxton.html
...Paxton's actions in North Texas, at the debunked behest of a Fox News anchor, also target Latino communities: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/26/texas-voter-registration-election-ken-paxton-investigation/
...Paxton's efforts to dissolve a migrant outreach non-profit in Houston for what he calls illegal political messaging has been thrown out of court: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/23/texas-attorney-general-lawsuit-immigrant-rights-group-ruling-houston/
...All while the Texas Secretary of State's office says it has found "inadequacies" in Harris County's execution of the 2021-22 election - thus they're sending inspectors to oversee the November election across the Houston metro: https://abc13.com/post/texas-secretary-state-sends-inspectors-monitor-harris-county-2024-election-following-audit-2021-22-voting-issues/15225920/
Progress Texas will set up our official HQ during TribFests' Open Congress on Saturday September 7 at Hideout Coffee at 7th and Congress! We'll be live all day recording for the podcast, hanging out with progressive activists including YOU, and moving our stylish merch. Come see us - it's free! https://festival.texastribune.org/event/651560b0-5404-4ea0-b75e-8725c648826d/websitePage:64071bfd-7c25-49f7-a1ca-90f3fa6ff376
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
On the fourth and final night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention, Texas remained in key representation - from The Chicks, to Uvalde mom Kimberly Rubio, to Dallas Congressman Colin Allred: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/08/22/dnc-gives-colin-allred-a-national-stage-to-make-his-case-against-ted-cruz/
...Progress Texas Advocacy Manager Reagan Stone relates his main takeaways from his Chicago experience: https://progresstexas.org/blog/5-progressive-takeaways-2024-democratic-national-convention
...We look for the gap between now-official Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, shown to be narrowing before the DNC, to continue to shrink: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4842868-trump-harris-biden-texas-poll-2024/
Back in Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton has opened a multi-pronged attack on the integrity of our voting process, in a clear prelude to election challenges to come: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/08/23/in-vague-statement-paxton-says-he-is-investigating-potentially-illegal-voter-registration/
Churches behaving badly in Texas - Weatherford College is under scrutiny for a major land donation they made to a religious organization in 2022: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/23/weatherford-college-donates-land-community-christian-school/
...While Gateway Church expels a fourth member of its leadership in two months over "moral issues": https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/08/22/gateway-church-kemtal-glasgow/74909722007/
...And a Mercy Culture Church pastor claims that it's impossible to be a Democrat AND a Christian: https://www.lonestarlive.com/news/2024/08/texas-pastor-says-supporters-of-the-demonic-democratic-party-arent-real-christians.html
Progress Texas will set up our official HQ during TribFests' Open Congress on Saturday September 7 at Hideout Coffee at 7th and Congress! We'll be live all day recording for the podcast, hanging out with progressive activists including YOU, and moving our stylish merch. Come see us - it's free! https://festival.texastribune.org/event/651560b0-5404-4ea0-b75e-8725c648826d/websitePage:64071bfd-7c25-49f7-a1ca-90f3fa6ff376
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
With another backstage update from Chicago, as the 2024 Democratic National Convention moves into its climactic fourth day, Progress Texas Advocacy Manager Reagan Stone brings us a view from behind the scenes with two of our favorite Texas progressive players: we welcome back our long-time bud Kendall Scudder, among other important roles Vice Chair for Finance of the Texas Democratic Party. And, for the first time, Lisa Reyna Loe joins us - Lisa is an activist for disability-related causes in Texas and is also the state lead for Women For Harris.
Find out more about Kendall Scudder at https://www.kendallscudder.com/, and learn more about Lisa Reyna Loe at https://twitter.com/lisareynaloe.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can help support our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Prominent Texans during the third day ofthe Democratic National Convention included El Paso U.S. Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, influencers Carlos Espina and Olivia Julianna, and Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/dnc-bexar-county-sheriff-salazar-19716505.php
Could DNC buzz put Harris/Walz over the top in Texas? New polling shows a narrowing lead for Donald Trump: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/08/22/donald-trump-vs-kamala-harris-presidential-poll-texas-election/74889635007/
Ken Paxton, setting the stage for a challenge to the 2024 vote, has begun raiding election offices in the San Antonio area: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/elections-search-warrant-bexar-county-19712552.php
...While voter intimidation is also part of the Trump Party plan, as Fort Worth mom Crystal Mason's election fraud case will be heard for a second time by the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/21/crystal-mason-texas-voting-court-case
Texas DPS has ended a policy that allowed transgender Texans to change the sex listed on their driver's licenses: https://www.kut.org/texas/2024-08-21/texas-transgender-trans-drivers-license-change-update-policy
Progress Texas will set up our official HQ during TribFests' Open Congress on Saturday September 7 at Hideout Coffee at 7th and Congress! We'll be live all day recording for the podcast, hanging out with progressive activists including YOU, and moving our stylish merch. Come see us - it's free! https://festival.texastribune.org/event/651560b0-5404-4ea0-b75e-8725c648826d/websitePage:64071bfd-7c25-49f7-a1ca-90f3fa6ff376
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Abortion rights and reproductive freedom are a central theme for Texans in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention: https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/08/20/dnc-live-updates-coverage/abortion-front-and-center-texas-delegation-00175254
...Key issue figures including Kate Cox and Amanda Zurawski have been prominently featured: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/20/cox-zurawski-texas-abortion-laws-dnc/
...Other issues with major implications in Texas are highlighted as well, including immigration: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/politics/lone-star-politics/democratic-party-platform-texas-issues/3625922/
...Activist and platform committee member Olivia Julianna has a marquee speaking slot Wednesday night: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/dnc-gen-z-activist-olivia-juliana-share-life-19667069.php
...Catch our inside look at the first two days of the DNC from Advocacy Manager Reagan Stone and Progress Texas board member Jason Smith: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/special-mini-sode-an-update-from-the-democratic/id1552998795?i=1000666058984
Meanwhile back in Texas - it's ridiculously hot and we set a new all-time power demand record yesterday: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/texas-power-demand-breaks-record-during-heat-wave-grid-operator-says/ar-AA1p94JP
...ERCOT's CEO says the main reason we're keeping up with power demand is the growth of renewable energy in Texas: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/texas-power-grid-holding-record-demand-thanks-to-renewables-and-battery-storage/269-278934aa-e7a8-4af1-bc6c-a319ec604139
A Texas-based, Trump-appointed federal judge has blocked a new FTC ban on non-compete agreements: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/20/business/economy/noncompete-ban-ftc-texas.html
Progress Texas will set up our official HQ during TribFests' Open Congress on Saturday Septmeber 7 at Hideout Coffee at 7th and Congress! We'll be live all day recording for the podcast, hanging out with progressive activists including YOU, and moving our stylish merch. Come see us - it's free! https://festival.texastribune.org/event/651560b0-5404-4ea0-b75e-8725c648826d/websitePage:64071bfd-7c25-49f7-a1ca-90f3fa6ff376
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
...Please pitch in to help fund our recent expansion of that important voting resource with Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese translation: https://progresstexas.org/blog/coming-soon-govotetexasorg-adds-commonly-spoken-languages-increase-ballot-access
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Progress Texas Advocacy Manager Reagan Stone has been rubbin' elbows with a TON of our nation's top progressive leaders since he arrived in Chicago on Sunday, and so has Progress Texas board member and Fort Worth-based attorney Jason Smith! Reagan and Jason sit down to share what they've seen and heard so far, and to describe the scene - it sounds like a LOT of terrific fun! More updates to come - watch our website, this podcast feed and our social accounts for more.
Thanks for listening! Learn how YOU can support Progress Texas and our ongoing mission at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Last night's opening night of the Democratic National Convention was full of highlights, including Texas abortion rights activist Amanda Zurawski: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/08/19/us/dnc-harris-trump-election
...Harris County Lina Hidalgo sang the praises of both President Biden and Vice President Harris: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/lina-hidalgo-kamala-harris-19664933.php
Could Texas flip blue this year? While it's long seemed unthinkable, the topic keeps coming up: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/08/18/kamala-harris-tim-walz-democratic-nominees-affect-texas-2024-elections/74722944007/
The civil trial targeting the parents of the shooter in the Santa Fe High School mass killing has found them not liable for their son's actions: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/crime/article/santafe-shooter-parents-not-liable-19665393.php
A Wallethub study finds Texas #49 of the 50 U.S. states ranked by equality for women - even without weighing in reproductive restrictions: https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2024/08/19/texas-ranked-among-worst-states-in-the-us-for-womens-equality-report-says/
...While a Twinkl study finds that most people believe our public school teachers are both overworked and underpaid: https://www.expressnews.com/news/education/article/texas-teacher-school-workload-education-salary-19663364.php
Progress Texas will set up our official HQ during TribFests' Open Congress on Saturday Septmeber 7 at Hideout Coffee at 7th and Congress! We'll be live all day recording for the podcast, hanging out with progressive activists including YOU, and moving our stylish merch. Come see us - it's free! https://festival.texastribune.org/event/651560b0-5404-4ea0-b75e-8725c648826d/websitePage:64071bfd-7c25-49f7-a1ca-90f3fa6ff376
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texas is sending the third-largest delegation in the country to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which starts today: https://www.nbcdfw.com/decision-2024/texas-democrats-at-2024-dnc-process-the-biden-to-harris-transition/3624046/
...Kate Cox will be at the DNC at the invitation of the Harris campaign: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/texas-woman-who-left-state-abortion-back-harris-convention-2024-08-15/
...There are DNC and Harris nomination watch parties happening all across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/harris-nomination-watch-party-we-are-not-going-back
The Texas Freedom Network has released a study finding ever more encroachment by Christian materials into public school curricula: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/education/2024/08/16/christianity-religion-in-school-texas-freedom-network-study-bible-stories-curriculum/74827368007/
...David Brockman, a religious studies scholar at TCU and Rice, says the state should just start over: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2024/08/15/sunday-schools-or-texas-public-schools-report-questions-christianity-in-proposed-lessons/
...These materials could be in Texas public school elementary classrooms by this time next year: https://www.chron.com/culture/religion/article/texas-public-schools-religion-curriculum-19659548.php
Ken Paxton is trying to sue a Houston immigrant-rights advocacy nonprofit out of existence over its public opposition to Republican policy: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/16/texas-paxton-attorney-general-lawsuit-immigrants-rights-fiel-houston/
The UK-based banking firm NatWest has been added to the list of companies forbidden from doing business with Texas agencies over their ESG policies: https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/aug/15/texas-comptroller-adds-natwest-to-list-of-firms-said-to-be-boycotting-energy-companies
A former staffer for MAGA U.S. Congressman Troy Nehls is suing the lawmaker, alleging a hostile and homophobic work environment: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/16/nehls-gay-worker-hostile-workplace-lawsuit/
Progress Texas will set up our official HQ during TribFests' Open Congress on Saturday Septmeber 7 at Hideout Coffee at 7th and Congress! We'll be live all day recording for the podcast, hanging out with progressive activists including YOU, and moving our stylish merch. Come see us - it's free! https://festival.texastribune.org/event/651560b0-5404-4ea0-b75e-8725c648826d/websitePage:64071bfd-7c25-49f7-a1ca-90f3fa6ff376
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
We've been honored to host and meet a great and growing group of Texas progressive activists, officeholders and advocates in our ongoing series on reproductive freedom and the fight to regain our abortion rights in the Lone Star State. For this fifth talk in the series, we welcome three Texas women who have all taken on potentially the greatest political challenge in our state: running as Democrats in some of Texas' most egregiously gerrymandered Congressional districts. Dr. Kristin Hook (whose PhD is in reproductive biology!) is taking on MAGA incumbent Chip Roy, Theresa Boisseau is running against incumbent Michael McCaul, and Dayna Steele (who some Texans will know from rock radio!) is taking on Brian Babin. Yet another great, insightful, and sometimes heartbreaking talk on this difficult and immensely important topic.
Learn more about Dayna Steele at https://www.daynasteele.com/.
Learn more about Theresa Boisseau at https://www.theresa4texas.com/.
And, learn more about Dr. Kristin Hook at https://www.drkristinhook.org/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how YOU can pitch in to keep up the fight for progress in Texas at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A Houston-based right-wing group has been bombarding election officials in Texas with thousands of objections to voter rolls: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/16/voter-registration-challenges-texas/
...The Texas Tribune has posted a great guide on the obstacles and opportunies that Texans with disabilities need to be aware of for November: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/16/texas-voter-disabilities-election-2024/
Yet another child sex abuse scandal has popped up related to Gateway Church in Southlake: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/gateway-church-new-lawsuit-child-sex-abuse/
Texas has been revealed as the national leader - by a long shot - in child marraiges: https://www.newsweek.com/child-marriages-map-1937901
Ken Paxton will atone for those felony securities fraud charges he dodged for almost a decade by volunteering at a food bank: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/ken-paxton-food-bank-19658618.php
Arts supporters in Lubbock are pushing back against their MAGA City Council and mayor who have stripped funding from their montly arts walk: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/15/lubbock-art-trail-drag-show-council-vote/
Progress Texas will set up our official HQ during TribFests' Open Congress on Saturday Septmeber 7 at Hideout Coffee at 7th and Congress! We'll be live all day recording for the podcast, hanging out with progressive activists including YOU, and moving our stylish merch. Come see us - it's free! https://festival.texastribune.org/event/651560b0-5404-4ea0-b75e-8725c648826d/websitePage:64071bfd-7c25-49f7-a1ca-90f3fa6ff376
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A Texas-based, reliably-conservative activist Federal judge (and Federalist Society member) has blocked future protections for LGBTQ+ school kids under Title IX: https://www.lonestarlive.com/news/2024/08/texas-based-judge-expands-ban-on-title-ix-gender-sexuality-protections.html
Ken Paxton threatens legal action against the City of Dallas if the State Fair of Texas doesn't rescind their planned ban on most guns at this fall's event: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas-ken-paxton-state-fair-gun-policy-ban-lawsuit-attorney-general/287-9813c745-1eb1-42f3-8755-4cd627ac35b3
That massive dump of data on the Robb Elementary school massacre last weekend, it turns out, was incomplete: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/14/uvalde-shooting-police-footage/
Governor Greg Abbott's promise to his MAGA base to keep busing migrants into northern cities faces a critical shortage of migrants to victimize: https://www.nbcnews.com/investigations/texas-gov-greg-abbott-vows-keep-busing-migrants-north-one-problem-not-rcna166412
"Zombie" wells are haunting the Texas oil patch - and the role of the Texas Railroad Commission is coming under increased scrutiny: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/texas-oil-regulator-under-scrutiny-zombie-wells-gush-back-life-2024-08-14/
Progress Texas will set up our official HQ during TribFests' Open Congress on Saturday Septmeber 7 at Hideout Coffee at 7th and Congress! We'll be live all day recording for the podcast, hanging out with progressive activists including YOU, and moving our stylish merch. Come see us - it's free! https://festival.texastribune.org/event/651560b0-5404-4ea0-b75e-8725c648826d/websitePage:64071bfd-7c25-49f7-a1ca-90f3fa6ff376
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
In a narrow vote, a committee of the Harris County Democratic Party picked former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner as their nominee to replace the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee in the U.S. House: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/13/turner-jackson-lee-november-ballot-houston/
Harris County DA Kim Ogg's "big announcement" is that a joint investigation between her office and the Texas Rangers of suspected election fraud in 2022 has turned up nothing: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/ogg-corruption-election-texas-harris-no-fraud-19653715.php
That droning, two-hour Donald Trump/Elon Musk borefest earlier this week may have violated federal campaign finance laws: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4826806-end-citizens-united-fec-complaint-trump-musk-interview/
El Paso slaps a huge delinquency charge onto an almost-half-million-dollar debt it's owed by Donald Trump over a 2019 rally he held there: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-rally-el-paso-payment-b2595353.html
The civil trial regarding the responsibility of the parents of the shooter in the 2018 Santa Fe High School massacre continues in Galveston: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/14/us/shooting-parents-santa-fe-texas-trial.html
As college kids head back to their campuses for the fall, the task of voting from outside their home counties is difficult and requires advance planning: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/14/vote-by-mail-texas-2024-election/
Progress Texas will set up our official HQ during TribFests' Open Congress on Saturday Septmeber 7 at Hideout Coffee at 7th and Congress! We'll be live all day recording for the podcast, hanging out with progressive activists including YOU, and moving our stylish merch. Come see us - it's free! https://festival.texastribune.org/event/651560b0-5404-4ea0-b75e-8725c648826d/websitePage:64071bfd-7c25-49f7-a1ca-90f3fa6ff376
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Two Texas women have filed suit against two Texas hospitals, which they say denied needed emergency care for ectopic pregnancies: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/12/texas-abortion-law-ectopic-pregnancies/
Primary-defeated and outgoing Harris County DA Kim Ogg is set to announce corruption charges in relation to the November 2022 election in the Houston area: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/ogg-rangers-corruption-election-harris-county-19652702.php
Over 70 Republican officeholders and nominees have signed a letter demanding that the State Fair of Texas reverse its decision not to allow patrons to carry guns into the fairgrounds this fall: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/public-safety/2024/08/12/texas-lawmakers-urge-state-fair-to-reverse-gun-ban-a-year-after-shooting/
A new state law that protects Texas teachers from prosecution for violating the First Amendment's application to the separation of church and state was highlighted yesterday during a hearing of the Texas Committee on Public Education: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/teachers-now-free-to-violate-separation-of-church-and-state-texas-education-official-says-35297488
Elon Musk's two-hour conversation with Donald Trump last night was riddled with dozens of unchecked lies: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/12/us/politics/trump-musk-x-fact-check.html
...While Musk's SpaceX company us under scrutiny from multiple environmental regulation agencies over its dumping of mercury-contaminated water in South Texas: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/12/spacex-repeatedly-polluted-waters-in-texas-tceq-epa-found.html
Progress Texas will set up our official HQ during TribFests' Open Congress on Saturday Septmeber 7 at Hideout Coffee at 7th and Congress! We'll be live all day recording for the podcast, hanging out with progressive activists including YOU, and moving our stylish merch. Come see us - it's free! https://festival.texastribune.org/event/651560b0-5404-4ea0-b75e-8725c648826d/websitePage:64071bfd-7c25-49f7-a1ca-90f3fa6ff376
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
The high-tech world is frequently (and rightfully) seen as antithetical to democracy - but it doesn't have to be that way. We're proud to welcome Jeremy Smith, an Army veteran and Austin-based information technology innovator who has led the way on a growing array of digital platforms and products that are designed to increase and enhance our connection to the democratic process - NOT to isolate us from it, as is all too often the case.
Learn more about Jeremy Smith and Civitech at https://civitech.io/team/jeremy-smith/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Over the weekend, new details about the 2022 Robb Elementary mass shooting were revealed as the City of Uvalde released its records on the incident: https://www.propublica.org/article/uvalde-city-officials-release-school-shooting-records
...Meanwhile the demolition of the old church building in Sutherland Springs where our state's most deadly mass shooting occurred in 2017 began on Saturday: https://www.tpr.org/news/2024-08-10/demolition-begins-on-the-site-of-texas-deadliest-mass-shooting-as-divided-community-watches
Every Texan releases a new analysis of likely outcomes of Governor Abbott's requirement of Texas hospitals to report information about patients who cannot prove their citizenship: https://everytexan.org/2024/08/09/gov-abbotts-executive-order-will-increase-distrust-in-texas-health-systems-diminish-health-outcomes-and-harm-state-economy/
The Texas House of Representatives Committee on Public Education meets today to begin what's likely to be an all-out war over public school vouchers during next year's Legislative session: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/texas-house-committee-to-lay-ground-work-for-private-school-subsidy-legislation/
The State Fair of Texas in Dallas will no longer allow guns to be carried onto the fairgrounds as of this fall, following the lead of rodeos in San Antonio, Austin and Houston: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/texas-state-fair-guns-19630807.php
As Texas as a whole trends gradually blue, the Rio Grande Valley has been trending gradually red - can VP Harris halt that trend? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/10/election-latino-voters-texas-trump
...And could Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s presence on the Texas ballot swing our state to Harris? https://www.chron.com/politics/article/robert-kennedy-texas-19630866.php
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
We were proud to be included in yesterday's celebration of the Texas Rangers' 2023 World Series victory with President Joe Biden at the White House: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/40784277/biden-hosts-world-series-champion-rangers-white-house
Governor Abbott has signed an executive order demanding information on undocumented people who seek medical care at Texas hospitals: https://abc13.com/post/texas-hospitals-ordered-inquire-patients-immigration-status/15162069/
An enormous scheduling backlog at Texas DPS's drivers license division is causing months-long appointment delays - and yet another obstacle to voting: https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/texas-dps-staffing-shortages-missed-appointments-massive-delays-getting-drivers-license/3616134/
Climate change is certain to continue pushing your insurance premiums skyward, as we're on track to set a new state record for natural disasters costing over $1 billion: https://www.lonestarlive.com/weather/2024/08/texas-on-track-for-record-breaking-year-of-billion-dollar-natural-disasters.html
Texas civil rights groups continue pushing state school districts to modify their student dress codes to accommodate the CROWN Act, with varying success: https://www.texasaft.org/profession/know-your-rights/texas-aclu-finds-dress-codes-of-51-school-districts-violate-crown-act/
State election officials ignore the objections of the Texas Democratic Party and evidence of petition malfeasance, declaring that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has qualified to be on the November ballot in Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/08/kennedy-texas-ballot-signatures-election-2024/
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texas Trump types are throwing everything they can at Tim Walz - is any of it sticking? https://www.chron.com/politics/article/tim-walz-texas-communist-19625695.php
...Our Jackie Rogers compares Walz to his VP opponent, the eminently gross J.D. Vance: https://progresstexas.org/blog/everything-you-need-know-about-vp-candidates-tim-walz-and-jd-vance
After considering complicating matters, the Lockhart City Council has voted to put a simple, direct marijuana decrim measure on the November ballot as mandated by petition: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/politics/marijuana-decriminalization-lockhart-texas-ballot-signatures-update/269-4c2bff54-c091-44fd-b95c-4bef066519c0
The lawsuit based upon the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act against the Trump Train drivers that dangerously harrassed a Biden/Harris campaign bus south of Austin in 2020 can proceed to trial: https://lawandcrime.com/lawsuit/kkk-act-lawsuit-over-trump-train-surrounding-of-biden-harris-bus-days-before-2020-election-just-got-one-step-closer-to-trial/
J.D. Vance wrote a violent foreward to a book on Project 2025 - the publication of which has been postponed until after the November election: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/07/us/politics/project-2025-book-jd-vance-delayed.html
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texas progressive politicos are jazzed about the pick of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as Vice President Kamala Harris' pick as her running mate: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/texas-democrats-praise-harris-walz-presidential-ticket/
...Governor Abbott is somewhat less enthusiastic: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article290795974.html
...Petroleum polluting billionaires are alarmed by the Walz pick: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/tim-walz-oil-climate-harris-19622939.php
PT Advocacy Manager Reagan Stone reminds the U.S. Department of Energy that they're under no obligation to approve new LNG facilities: https://progresstexas.org/blog/hey-department-energy-environmental-justice-means-uplifting-frontline-communities
...While a federal court finds that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has fallen short in evaluating the negative environmental impacts of the energy projects it is evaluating: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/lng-rio-grande-texas-court-19623769.php
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
About 12 percent of Texas voters - over two million of us - are on an official "voter suspense list" due to uncertainty that our addresses match our voter registration: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/elections/2024/08/05/texas-voter-suspense-list-tops-21-million-heres-what-to-do-if-youre-on-it/
A Texas Ranger targeted for termination earlier this year due to failure to execute his job properly during the Uvalde school shooting has been reinstated: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/05/chris-kindell-uvalde-fired-reinstated-texas-ranger/
New all-time energy demand is expected by ERCOT as summer heat maxes out this week - will the lights and AC stay on? https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/texas-power-grid-energy-demand-19620604.php
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham seeks to draw medical care talent, laboring under threat of prosecution in Texas due to our reproductive care limits, to the less-oppressive environment of her state: https://www.lonestarlive.com/news/2024/08/new-mexico-invites-texas-medical-professionals-to-relocate-away-from-abortion-bans.html
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Everyone is focused on the Presidential race, for obvious reasons - and most Texans who take an even slightly broader view of the election might get as far as unseating Ted Cruz. There's a LOT more at play and at stake this November, and our ideological foes in the Republican Party are certainly engaged at the school board level - where control over the funding, educational policies and curriculum content of our public schools primarily lies. We have five terrific Democratic nominees for the Texas State Board of Education, and in this talk we get the views of two of them in regard to the task at hand. Rayna Glasser, running for SBOE District 11, and Morgan Kirkpatrick, in the race for SBOE District 15, share their common sense views on how Texas public schools need to change, and how to resist the GOP's assault on them via vouchers, encroaching religious content, and more.
Learn more about Morgan Kirkpatrick at https://morgankirkpatrickforsboe15.com/.
Learn more about Rayna Glasser at https://raynaforsboe11.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texas representatives of the Trump party have led the way in a misguided assault on Algerian Olympic boxer Imane Khelif, whom they have incorrectly characterized as transgender, and thus an example of "keeping men out of women's sports": https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/greg-abbott-texas-imane-khelif-19616272.php
...As usual, conservative politicians don't let pesky facts interfere with serving up cruelty for their voter base: https://www.expressnews.com/sports/article/olympic-boxing-story-cruelty-doesn-t-wait-facts-19617429.php
Former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner jumps into a crowded race to both fill the rest of the late Congresswoman Shiela Jackson Lee's term, and for the term to follow, in the November 5 election: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/2024/08/02/495524/sylvester-turner-amanda-edwards-among-candidates-vying-for-sheila-jackson-lees-open-seat/
Dallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett is not letting Donald Trump's disrespectful commentary at a Chicago gathering of Black journalists go just yet: https://thehill.com/homenews/race-politics/4809674-jasmine-crockett-kamala-harris-donald-trump-nabj-race-comments/
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A three-year investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice reveals endemic and pervasive abuse against kids in the Texas juvenile justice system: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/texas-youth-lockups-beset-abuse-mistreatment-children-justice-112492737
A committee of UT Austin professors has determined that the university's leadership broke its own rules in the crackdown on pro-Palestinian protestors back in April: https://www.kut.org/education/2024-07-31/ut-austin-committee-of-counsel-on-academic-freedom-and-responsibility-report-pro-palestinian-protests
Investigative reporters at the Texas Observer have identified a group that attacked a family after a river trip in Martindale in June as members or supporters of the largest white supremacist hate group in the country: https://www.texasobserver.org/neo-nazi-martindale-arrest-gang/
Eddie Canales, a beloved advocate for migrants in South Texas, has died at 76: https://myfox8.com/news/border-report/longtime-south-texas-migrant-advocate-has-died/
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Vice President Harris continues spending precious campaign time in Texas - she will speak at U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee's funeral today: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/harris-eulogize-longtime-us-rep-sheila-jackson-lee-112465451
...Harris responds from Texas to Donald Trump's ridiculous attacks on her racial heritage: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/31/kamala-harris-houston-sorority-speech/
An East Texas man has been arrested and charged with multiple crimes related to his storming of the U.S. Senate floor on January 6 2021 carrying at Trump "Rambo" flag: https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/national/capitol-riots/texas-man-who-carried-trump-rambo-flag-onto-floor-of-senate-charged-with-felony-misdemeanors-micheal-kieth-williams/65-2cc314b6-60a2-46b6-8308-f63287360d31
Key MAGA talking heads have started blaming each other for the Trump campaign's sudden collapse: https://www.mediamatters.org/project-2025/maga-figures-are-suddenly-afraid-trump-will-lose-and-pointing-fingers-each-other-over
A new environmental study shows that U.S. oil producers are releasing four times as much methane as federal regulators have estimated: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/texas-methane-oil-gas-climate-change-19609105.php
...While unregulated oilfield power lines appear to have sparked those massive wilddfires earlier this year in the Panhandle: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/01/texas-oil-electricity-power-lines-fires-panhandle/
...A petroleum and geology scientist at UT Austin breaks down how poil extraction processes are triggering earthquakes across Texas: https://www.kwtx.com/2024/07/31/degrees-science-science-behind-recent-texas-earthquakes/
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texas progressives should continue to heed warnings issued by both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris from Texas stages lately about Project 2025, despite Donald Trump's distancing and the Heritage Foundation's claims that they're winding it down: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/30/project-2025-director-paul-dans-leaves-heritage-foundation/
...The planning phase is ending, but the preparations for implementation are full steam ahead: https://www.npr.org/2024/07/30/g-s1-14455/project-2025-trump-heritage
...Those planners feature a rogue's gallery of white supremacist activists, including one who was recently ousted from a position at UT Austin over his racist writing: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2024/07/29/project-2025-racist-writing/74567007007/
National GOP money and attention is pouring into the campaign of Mayra Flores - they see her run against incumbent Vicente Gonzalez as a likely flip: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/29/mayra-flores-young-gun-south-texas-hd-15/
A lawsuit brought by the Texas prisoner who inspired the movie "Bernie" over hot conditions in state prisons is being considered in an Austin courtroom: https://apnews.com/article/texas-prison-heat-temperature-air-conditioning-lawsuit-c5018d8d960f6ecb4c99367d444b8339
...A Texas Newsroom probe finds that several prisoners who have died in custody exhibited extraordinarily high body temperatures: https://www.kut.org/crime-justice/2024-07-29/investigation-texas-prison-heat-inmate-deaths-ac-autopsy-lawsuit
Another trial is underway in Galveston, that concerning a lawsuit against the parents of the 2018 Santa Fe High School mass shooter: https://apnews.com/article/school-shooting-texas-santa-fe-civil-trial-96e3cac9ef54c02fa9a6ddfaa32b1732
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
At yesterday's ceremony at the LBJ Library in Austin, President Biden called for sweeping reforms designed to reign in a rogue conservative U.S. Supreme Court: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/29/us/politics/biden-supreme-court-austin-texas.html
...Several Democrats - but no Republicans - met Biden on the ABIA tarmac yesterday: https://x.com/willdupreetv/status/1818015413437087814?t=QDYKCZ-xFe677e13D6rz0Q&s=03
...Those same Democrats weigh in on the POTUS visit and his plans for SCOTUS: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/state/2024/07/29/texas-politicians-react-joe-biden-austin-tx-visit-lbj-library-civil-rights-act/74595049007/
The President headed to Houston afterwards to pay respects to late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee: https://apnews.com/article/sheila-jackson-lee-houston-funeral-prayer-service-0755f59092b8468d2e583372be5ea67a
Lockhart becomes the second Texas town in just the last month to verify enough petition signatures to put marijuana decriminalizaton on their November ballot: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/texas-officials-approve-marijuana-decriminalization-initiative-for-local-november-ballot-in-lockhart/
We salute an inspiring community effort in Denton to restore a mural defaced with anti-LGBTQ graffiti: https://www.lonestarlive.com/news/2024/07/theres-just-more-love-after-north-texas-town-restored-mural-with-anti-lgbtq-graffiti.html
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
President Biden gave remarks at the commemoration ceremony honoring the 60th anniversary of President Lyndon Baines Johnson's signing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 today at the LBJ Presidential Library on the University of Texas campus in Austin. This podcast features his full, unedited remarks. Huge thanks to the LBJ Library staff for a super-smooth event!
More on today's visit by the President: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/29/joe-biden-supreme-court-supreme-court/
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Postponed after the Trump assassination, President Joe Biden's visit to Austin and the LBJ Presidential Library to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act will commence at 3pm today: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/state/2024/07/29/president-joe-biden-speech-lbj-library-austin-texas-how-to-watch-livestream-kamala-harris/74377745007/
...The President will also pay his respects to U.S. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee today in Houston, while Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver remarks at Jackson Lee's memorial service on Thursday: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/28/biden-harris-sheila-jackson-lee-services/
...The Trump party, scrambling for a counter-narrative to Harris, is more or less resorting to racism and misogyny: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/gop-fumbling-against-kamala-harris/
...Especially Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, who has taken to right-wing TV to call Harris "the queen of DEI": https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/07/25/dan-patrick-calls-kamala-harris-queen-of-dei-bucking-guidance-from-party-leaders/
Doctors and nurses are among our most respected Humans, and a group of them have come out Against Ted Cruz: https://www.lonestarlive.com/news/2024/07/texas-doctors-nurses-speak-out-against-ted-cruzs-abortion-policies.html
...While Ted, who prefers that name to Rafael, takes out millions of dollars worth of Spanish-language TV ads in the Rio Grande Valley: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/ted-cruz-spanish-ad-push-19598870.php
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Our ongoing series of conversations on the trampling of reproductive freedom in Texas - and what it's going to take to regain those rights - continues. In this fourth installment, we're proud to welcome Texas State Senator Molly Cook who has made history as our state's first openly LGBTQ Senator, Austin City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes who makes her first appearance on our podcast feed, and Democratic State House nominee and former Miss Texas Averie Bishop, running against a GOP incumbent - all three on Texas ballots this fall! Voting for candidates who will fight back for abortion access in Texas is extremely vital - enjoy another great conversation on how we're going to get those rights back, permanently.
Learn more about Texas Senator Molly Cook at https://www.mollyfortexas.com/.
Learn more about Austin City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes at https://www.vanessaforaustin.com/.
Learn more about Texas House candidate Averie Bishop at https://www.averieforall.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas at https://progresstexas.org/, join the fight for reproductive freedom at https://roevolution.org/, and be sure your voter registration is good to go for November at https://govotetexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Vice President Kamala Harris' address to the American Federation of Teachers' national convention in Houston yesterday is a rare high point for our state's embattled public school educators: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/25/texas-teachers-kamala-harris-houston/
...VP Harris' full remarks yesterday: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/special-pod-vp-kamala-harris-live-from-houston/id1552998795?i=1000663345746
...Progress Texas' Tatum Owens lines out the impressive resume of our first female VP: https://progresstexas.org/blog/kamala-harris%E2%80%99-background-unburdened-what-has-been
Lizelle Gonzalez, forced to undergo a cesarean section and "mistakenly" thrown in jail on murder charges after a self-induced abortion, gets the go-ahead to sue local officials over her ordeal: https://apnews.com/article/texas-abortion-arrest-0a78cbb8f44cc24c3c9c811e1cc2b4d3
...While Ken Paxton sues the Biden administration over its efforts to provide contraception to Texas teens without parental consent: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/25/texas-paxton-biden-parental-consent-contraception/
A formal complaint against Ted Cruz is coming over his sidestepping of Senate ethics rules in relation to his thrice-per-week "volunteer" podcast: https://www.tpr.org/podcast/the-source/2024-07-25/dems-file-ethics-complaint-against-podcaster-sen-ted-cruz
...All while Cruz steps up his legal efforts against NPR: https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/sen-ted-cruz-puts-npr-in-hot-seat-over-taxpayer-funding-perceived-political-bias,251095
The deadline to register for the November election is October 7. Are you registered? Are you sure? ALL Texas voters should confirm their registration, right now: https://govotetexas.org/
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
In case you missed it - here's a full, unedited capture of remarks given this morning in Houston at the national convention of the American Federation of Teachers by Vice President Kamala Harris. Enjoy!
Thanks for listening! Learn all about Progress Texas and how you can support our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The voter registration site Vote.org reports a massive spike in registrations since President Biden stepped out of the race: https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1816088296583209122?t=sv_uB_VvIGtnW5Zh2AkL7w&s=03
...While we're also hearing about mysterious suspensions of registration here in Texas - we must ALL confirm we're good to go in November: https://govotetexas.org/
Vice President Harris speaks this morning at 10 in Houston at the national convention of the American Federation of Teachers - stream to watch: https://www.aft.org/
Once the target of consternation from some of his fellow Texas progressives, Austin Rep. Lloyd Doggett's public call for President Biden to stand down now seems prescient and courageous: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/25/lloyd-doggett-joe-biden-kamala-harris-texas/
The Texas Democratic Party, nominee for Senate Colin Allred, VP Harris and other progressive leaders are launching a new coordinated campaign on Sunday: https://www.newsweek.com/democrats-launch-major-coordinated-attack-strategy-texas-1929695
Several Texas Democrats sat out of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's controversial address to Congress yesterday: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/07/24/several-texas-democrats-skip-israeli-pm-benjamin-netanyahus-address-to-congress/
...While Governor Greg Abbott draws parallels between the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023 and Texas' immigration issues before a crowd of law enforcement officers: https://www.texasobserver.org/abbott-hamas-sheriffs-border/
The Lubbock City Council has voted to strip funding from a popular monthly arts walk over false accusations of promoting "sexualized content" to kids - yes, they're worked up about a drag show: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/24/lubbock-texas-drag-show-arts-trail-funding/
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
After a unanimous decision by our board, all of us at Progress Texas are very proud to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris in her bid for the presidency: https://progresstexas.org/blog/statement-progress-texas-endorses-kamala-harris-president
...VP Harris is scheduled to speak in Houston tomorrow: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/2024/07/23/kamala-harris-houston-texas-visit-national-convention-american-federation-of-teachers-union/74518494007/
...While President Joe Biden has rescheduled his visit to UT Austin's LBJ Library to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act for Monday: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/07/23/joe-biden-heads-to-texas-on-monday-for-event-commemorating-civil-rights-act/
A study of air quality across the country's national parks finds ozone impacts at New Mexico's Carlsbad Caverns National Park, likely due to petroleum extraction activity in Texas' Permian Basin upwind: https://phys.org/news/2024-07-oil-gas-permian-basin-source.html#google_vignette
...While Monday night's 4.9 magnitude earthquake centered around Hermleigh is the strongest ever recorded with direct links to petroleum extraction: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/07/23/texas-earthquakes-blamed-on-oil-production/74517191007/
...And parts of the Houston metro are now dramatically sinking due to groundwater and petroleum draws: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/groundwater-crisis-katy-subsidence-rule-of-capture/
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texas' delegation to the Democratic National Convention - the nation's 3rd-largest - voted overwhelmingly to support Vice President Kamala Harris in a call last night: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/21/joe-biden-texas-delegates-nomination-process/
...Meanwhile Team Harris is raising record-setting amounts of campaign donations: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kamala-harris-fundraising-81-million-biden-drops-out/
...An ActBlue heat map shows D/FW as a major source of Harris' funding: https://www.reddit.com/r/Destiny/comments/1e9lr23/actblue_small_dollar_donation_heat_map/
...Local Metroplex Democratic leaders helped get that done: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/north-texas-politicians-part-of-massive-fundraising-bump-vice-president-kamala-harris/287-fd305e87-e09c-4188-a07c-3e61b73033a3
...105 days to go - NOW is the time to confirm your voter registration: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-lawmakers-endorse-kamala-harris/269-30b43a76-c1cd-47f6-a1ca-7fa34dba50dd
...A handy guide to confirming you're good to vote in Texas in November: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/trending/article/register-to-vote-texas-19589516.php
...Meanwhile, Ken Paxton's office has shown almost no interest in enforcing campaign ethics violations fines: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/23/texas-ethics-campaign-finance-attorney-general/
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Katherine Culbert is the Democratic nominee for Texas Railroad Commission, challenging longtime incumbent Christi Craddick. Culbert has dedicated her life to the study of mitigating risk - and she sees a direct link between the massive donations made by companies like Houston's Centerpoint to Republican officials, including those on the Railroad Commission, and lax oversight which likely led to vulnerabilities in Houston's power grid - resulting in almost two dozen deaths as a relatively weak Hurrican Beryl knocked the city for a loop. Join us for a closer look at how profits, not people, dictate what happens at all levels of the Texas energy sector, and to learn how YOUR vote could be a catalyst for change.
Learn more about Katherine Culbert and her campaign at https://www.katherine4texas.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
In mere hours, following the announcement of President Joe Biden that he was standing down from the election and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to run in his place, the fundraising platform ActBlue reported over $50 million in donations: https://x.com/mattmfm/status/1815199349737205860?s=46
President Biden's under-appreciated administration will be remembered well by history: https://apnews.com/article/biden-political-legacy-presidential-election-5aee4f47ecb317d4f6ef2a2148eba1d8
Progress Texas celebrates both the accomplishments of the Biden/Harris team: https://progresstexas.org/blog/statement-biden-taps-vp-harris-%E2%80%9Cfinish-job%E2%80%9D-most-progressive-presidency-american-history
...And the potential for a new administration led by Kamala Harris: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/07/21/texas-democrats-worried-about-down-ballot-races-feeling-better-after-bidens-decision/
Progress Texas sends our condolences to the family of legendary progressive fighter and leader Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sheila-jackson-lee-dies-age-74/
See Progress Texas' analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The 2024 Republican National Convention wrapped with a fiery celebration of our country's cultural lowest common denominator and an endless, snoozy Trump diatribe: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/19/takeaways-rnc-day-4-trump-speech
...While a speech featuring VP pick J.D. Vance extolling the virtues of Alex Jones surfaces: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/vance-alex-jones-oligarchs-speech-report-1235061811/
...And most of the major players in Texas' conservative circus seem primed for sweet Trump gigs should he win in November: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/07/18/texas-republicans-not-in-2024-spotlight-could-thrive-under-a-trump-second-term/
An Austin-based network of shelters for immigrant children is the target of a federal lawsuit alleging systemic sexual abuse of the kids under its care: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/national/2024/07/18/doj-texas-company-staff-sexually-abused-migrant-children-in-their-care-at-shelter/
...While Ken Paxton seeks the approval of the Texas Supreme Court to continue his efforts to shut down the Catholic immigrant shelter network Annunciation House: https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-revives-effort-close-annunciation-house-el-paso/
Dallas U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett thumbs her nose at the state-level GOP lawmakers who want her to step down over her support of a bill denying former Presidents convicted of felonies their traditional lifetime Secret Service privileges: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/dallas-texas-jasmine-crockett-trump-secret-service-bill-congresswoman/287-b4db9260-858e-40c8-9e9f-1b4be667923f
See Progress Texas' new analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Governor Abbott left Texas amidst hurricane recovery for a second time to speak at the Republican National Convention's third night: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/greg-abbott-rnc-speech-takeaways-19580598.php
...Badly-needed fact checking of Abbott's RNC remarks: https://www.cbsnews.com/video/fact-checking-texas-gov-abbotts-immigration-claims-in-rnc-speech/
The Pennsylvania billionaire who gave Abbott $6 million to push for vouchers has kicked in another $4 million: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/17/greg-abbott-jeff-yass-campaign-donation/
Repeated weather-related mass power outages in Texas are due to poor stormproofing of infrastructure: https://www.click2houston.com/news/texas/2024/07/18/why-texas-mass-power-outages-continue-to-happen/
...A Senate committee will look into our state's power problems - think they'll find themselves responsible? Right: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-weather/hurricanes/article/texas-senate-beryl-power-outages-committee-19580158.php
Texas has been ranked only behind Mississippi in negative women's health outcomes: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/public-health/2024/07/17/texas-ranks-almost-dead-last-in-the-nation-for-womens-health-care-research-shows/
See Progress Texas' new analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Since he was first elected to the Austin City Council ten years ago in 2014, Houston native Greg Casar has emerged as one of our state's most respected progressive leaders, and since 2022 has been pushing hard for progress in Texas in the U.S. House, where he's currently the second-youngest member of that entire esteemed body. Join us for a great conversation on his experience so far in D.C., how it has inspired him to keep fighting for his folks back home, and how Texas progressives should both buckle down and buck up about the work at hand, even when the battles seem tough - let's play the long game and win the war.
Learn more about Congressman Greg Casar at https://casar.house.gov/.
Thanks for listening! Your donations and your purchases from our web store help Progress Texas continue our important work, and we appreciate it very much. Come see us at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Governor Abbott remains defiant in the face of criticism over his abandoning Texas during Hurricane Beryl: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/16/greg-abbott-asia-hurricane-beryl/
...Abbott's attacks notwithstanding, Centerpoint Energy has donated heavily to Republicans for years - thus the lack of regulation, likely leading to Houston's vulnerability: https://www.kxan.com/news/centerpoint-has-contributed-at-least-1-4m-to-texas-lawmakers-since-2022/
...Beryl's death toll in Southeast Texas has risen to 18: https://abc13.com/post/hurricane-beryl-death-toll-hyperthermia-heat-illness-power-outages/15063218/
...And an already challenging hunger crisis in Houston has gotten a lot worse: https://grist.org/food-and-agriculture/hunger-was-already-bad-enough-then-beryl-hit/
Ted Cruz returned to a Republican National Convention stage for the first time since 2016 last night - this time, not defiant to Trump, but groveling: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/16/ted-cruz-trump-republican-national-convention/
...RNC calls for "unity" and attempting to disavow political violence ring hollow, as several of their speakers, including Cruz, are known for stoking the violent tendencies of their audiences: https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/republican-convention-features-speakers-who-have-called-and-downplayed-political
Trump VP pick J.D. Vance once clerked for Senator John Cornyn: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/16/jd-vance-john-cornyn-texas-vice-president/
...And has publicly supported Texas' abortion ban: https://www.thedailybeast.com/jd-vance-defends-texas-abortion-ban-calls-rape-inconvenient
...Leading to fears that his presence on the ticket makes a national abortion ban more likely should Trump win: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/16/jd-vance-abortion-rights-groups
A new ranking of U.S. states by quality of life finds Texas the worst in the country, largely due to the by-products of Republican rule: https://www.expressnews.com/news/texas/article/texas-worst-quality-of-life-in-america-ranking-19576834.php
See Progress Texas' new analysis of Project 2025, and what it will mean for Texas should it be enacted: https://progresstexas.org/blog/project-2025-vs-progress-2025
...And a complete guide to Project 2025 from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texas formed a visible component of the garish display that was Monday night's Republican National Convention: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/trump-rnc-cruz-biden-19575121.php
Colin Allred has outraised Ted Cruz in the second quarter of 2024: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/15/colin-allred-ted-cruz-senate-race-texas/
A Texas YouTuber, whose channel has generated billions of views of videos glorifying guns and military weapons, expresses surprise that his content inspired the 20 year old who tried to kill Donald Trump: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/shocked-and-confused-texas-youtuber-speaks-after-trump-rally-gunman-wore-channel-merch-shirt/
A group of Texas Republican lawmakers and candidates have signed a petition calling for Dallas U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett to step down over her support of a move to strip Trump of his Secret Service detail: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/trump-assassination-attempt-secret-service-bill-jasmine-crockett-texas-republicans/287-e0353733-1673-435d-b5ee-5cd7e64273be
Local school and law enforcement officials in Uvalde have been ordered by a judge to turn over video, audio and records related to the Robb Elementary shooting: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/15/uvalde-school-shooting-records-sheriff-district/
...While another judge has approved the demolition of the old church building where 26 died in a mass shooting in 2017 in Sutherland Springs: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/judge-clears-demolition-texas-church-26-people-killed-111972090
ALL progressives should learn all they can about Project 2025, in order to resist its becoming actual U.S. policy: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texas connections to the Trump assassination attempt:
...The Pennsylvania man who allegedly tried to kill Donald Trump on Saturday was wearing merchandise from a Texas-based gun fanatic YouTube channel at the time: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/what-is-demolition-ranch-19573090.php
...Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller was standing near Trump when the shooting began: https://www.khou.com/article/news/national/sid-miller-trump-rally-shooting/285-ff11c342-22a2-4a5f-9eec-77cc47a24622
...A nephew of Amarillo U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson was wounded but is okay: https://www.wral.com/video/blood-on-his-neck-texas-congressman-s-nephew-injured-during-trump-rally-shooting/21524308/
...President Biden's visit to the LBJ Library at UT Austin has been postponed: https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/biden-to-reschedule-visit-to-austin-following-trump-rally-shooting/
Governor Abbott's ass-kissy tweets about the attack on Trump have drawn backlash from Houston folks still without power after Abbott's neglectful handling of Hurricane Beryl: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/greg-abbott-trump-rally-shooting-19573058.php
...Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo counters much of then-Acting Governor Dan Patrick's story of his handling of the situation while Abbott was sightseeing in Asia: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/2024/07/11/493282/harris-county-judge-lina-hidalgo-responds-to-claims-from-acting-governor-dan-patrick-that-she-did-not-request-aid-for-the-county/
...As a Category 1 hurricane basically cripples Houston, worry builds about the likely impacts of inevitable future storms of much greater intensity: https://www.texasobserver.org/hurricane-beryl-warning-shot-houston/
...Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa calls on Republican elected officials to stay at their posts in Texas, rather than jetting off for the Republican National Convention: https://x.com/texasdemocrats/status/1811865878671298715
Protestors outnumbered the attendees of the extremist event they were countering at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden over the weekend: https://www.keranews.org/news/2024-07-13/christian-nationalism-event-in-fort-worth-botanic-garden-draws-protest-police-presence
ALL progressives should learn all they can about Project 2025, in order to resist its becoming actual U.S. policy: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Centerpoint Energy predicts that hundreds of thousands of Southeast Texans still without power will remain that way into next week: https://apnews.com/article/houston-beryl-hurricane-power-outages-7f624c7e14f41284449009295e69ac12
...The utility is actually outpacing itself compared to prior weather-related outages: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/11/centerpoint-power-restore-texas-houston-when-why-timeline/
...Dan Patrick continues clinging to the idea that he had to personally assess the disaster area before requesting federal help - which is simply not true: https://www.chron.com/news/article/dan-patrick-beryl-biden-19567475.php
Today marks the start of an event being held by the extremist group True Texas Project at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, who were forced by city officials to host it - protests are expected: https://fortworthreport.org/2024/07/10/fort-worth-event-on-christian-nationalism-spurs-concerns-over-safety-free-speech/
...While a TCU seminary head notes that white supremacy and Christian Nationalism are fundamentally at odds with the teachings of Christ: https://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/other-voices/article289902849.html
Progress Texas highlights the perspectives and goals of younger voters in Texas, dovetailing with our recent podcast discussion: https://progresstexas.org/blog/gen-z-and-millennials-heroes-our-democracy-needs
A new profile on oil billionaire and Christian Nationalist crusader Tim Dunn outlines his federal aspirations: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2024/jul/11/tim-dunn-texas-oil-billionaire-trump
Amidst ever hotter summers and against national trends, the cities of Lubbock and Longview have both closed down all of their public swimming pools, leaving kids of limited funds high and dry: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/11/texas-public-pools-lubbock-longview/
President Joe Biden will speak on Monday July 15 from the LBJ Presidential Library at UT Austin, marking the 60th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act - here's a link to watch: https://www.youtube.com/live/9x5xcS2aXTY?si=8sbMn1VT6D_voDPv
ALL progressives should learn all they can about Project 2025, in order to resist its becoming actual U.S. policy: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Over 1 million Houston area Centerpoint and Entergy power customers remain without power or AC amidst sweltering heat this morning: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-weather/hurricanes/article/hurricane-beryl-power-updates-houston-heat-19563819.php
...Centerpoint's outage map shows that as of now, about half of the affected area has not yet seen actual repair work begin: https://abc13.com/post/centerpoint-energy-outage-map-when-will-power-come-back-beryl-houston/15048348/
...Entergy, which serves the non-ERCOT sections of the area, predicts restoration to be largely compete by the end of this weekend: https://www.khou.com/article/weather/hurricane/beryl/entergy-texas-beryl-power-restoration-effort-update/285-2e4add87-21d5-4402-ac81-0a924d125fbe
...Houston city leaders are up in arms with Centerpoint: https://apnews.com/article/houston-power-outages-beryl-ceb5fdc1db4d89d2376abb22bfd45d99
...NRG Stadium is now holding discharged hospital patients who can't return to their sweltering homes: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/10/texas-hospitals-beryl-power-outages/
...The state's response to Beryl, in particular its requests for federal help, came much more slowly than in prior hurricane situations: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-weather/hurricanes/article/greg-abbott-hurricane-beryl-19565079.php
Ken Paxton predicts that the Texas House General Investigating Committee is planning to recommend impeaching him a second time: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/10/ken-paxton-texas-attorney-general-impeach/
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Millions of Texans are beginning their third day without power - or AC - amidst a summer Texas heat wave: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/09/beryl-texas-houston-power-outages/
...Massive infrastructure failures after significant weather events has become a highly unfortunate routine reality in Texas: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-07-09/hurricane-beryl-makes-a-mockery-of-texas-climate-deniers
...This time, we can add a massive, debilitating internet outage to the list of infrastructure vulnerabilities: https://cw39.com/news/texas/spectrum-reports-power-outages-across-texas/
...And right away, Republicans in charge are wild-eyed with deflections of blame towards President Biden: https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/09/politics/biden-abbott-patrick-texas-hurricane-beryl-aid/index.html
Tens of millions of Texas taxpayer dollars are being funneled into shady "crisis pregnancy centers" with little oversight: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/09/texas-crisis-pregnancy-centers-abortion/
Disgraced Gateway Church pastor and child molester Robert Morris' lawyer once tried to paint his victim Cindy Clemishire, who was 12 at the time, of having made the initial sexual advance on Morris: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/robert-morris-gateway-church-lawyer-letters-cindy-clemishire-rcna160661
Momentum is ramping up for a protest by multiple Tarrant County progressive activist groups of this weekend's True Texas Project event, forced upon the Fort Worth Botanic Garden by the city officials: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/article289854404.html
...The True Texas Project, identified as an extremist organization by the Southern Poverty Law Center, espouses a full range of hateful and lunatic positions: https://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/bud-kennedy/article289261520.html
President Joe Biden will speak on Monday July 15 from the LBJ Presidential Library at UT Austin, marking the 60th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act - here's a link to watch: https://www.youtube.com/live/9x5xcS2aXTY?si=8sbMn1VT6D_voDPv
ALL progressives should learn all they can about Project 2025, in order to resist its becoming actual U.S. policy: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
As three Texans die, millions go without power, and flooding threatens multiple parts of the state, Governor Abbott continues a tour of East Asia, playing President: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/article/abbott-hurricane-beryl-acting-governor-patrick-19561623.php
A Texas oil billionaire family finds itself in the crosshairs of the Federal Trade Commission on anti-trust suspicions as their massive contributions to state regulatory officials come into focus: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/01072024/texas-pioneer-natural-resources-political-contributions/
A significant protest of this weekend's event being held at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden by a right wing extremist group by multiple Fort Worth progressive advocacy groups is expected: https://defenseofdemocracy.org/news/
Can abortion restrictions in Texas get even worse than they already are? Hell yes they can: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article289581064.html
Marijuana decriminalization appears headed to the November ballot in Bastrop: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/texas-activists-turn-in-signatures-to-put-marijuana-decriminalization-on-local-ballot-in-bastrop/
Elon Musk's SpaceX company is accused by environmental activists of excessive disruption of the ecosystems around Boca Chica: https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-boca-chica-texas-starbase-bird-habitat-2024-7
Residents of Granbury have been falling ill with a gruesome set of symptoms thought to be connected to noise coming from a nearby Bitcoin mining facility: https://time.com/6982015/bitcoin-mining-texas-health/
Donald Trump still owes El Paso over a half-million dollars for bills related to a rally he held there in 2019: https://kfoxtv.com/news/local/trumps-campaign-still-owes-el-paso-over-500k-for-2019-rally-other-cities-also-unpaid
ALL progressives should learn all they can about Project 2025, in order to resist its becoming actual U.S. policy: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Hurricane Beryl has made landfall at Matagorda and is currently slamming the Houston metro area: https://www.khou.com/article/weather/weather-impact/hurricane-beryl-texas-gulf-coast-landfall/285-c5815723-a9d2-440b-9b15-93341665e0c0
...While Governor Abbott is out of the country on an economic excursion to Taiwan: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-lt-governor-dan-patrick-is-acting-governor-where-is-greg-abbott/287-76ddfe70-4c04-4453-a0ec-95654dc0207b
...California Congressman Eric Swalwell has noticed: https://x.com/RepSwalwell/status/1810137695009542498?t=qdMmC4qhbRGiAlNUR6pSzQ&s=03
Austin Congressman Lloyd Doggett is catching hell from Texas progressives for recommending that President Biden abandon his race for re-election: https://www.statesman.com/story/opinion/letters/2024/07/04/lloyd-doggett-joe-biden-withdraw-stunt-act-of-disloyalty-letters/74293475007/
...But, others are praising the move: https://www.statesman.com/story/opinion/letters/2024/07/06/lloyd-doggett-deserves-praise-openly-calling-president-biden-to-quit-presidential-race/74310790007/
...While Doggett affirms that he'll support the President, or whomever the Democratic nominee is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uXL_OPO4_A
...President Biden will speak at UT Austin's LBJ Presidential Library next Monday: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/07/texas-joe-biden-lbj-library/
Media Matters finds that mainstream national media essentially ignored the massive infant mortality spike in Texas related to our near-complete ban on abortion: https://www.mediamatters.org/broadcast-networks/national-news-media-barely-covered-infant-mortality-spike-followed-texas-anti
Lavish gifts to Supreme Court justices like Clarence Thomas are paying off big time for billionaires like Texas' Harlan Crow: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/chevron-supreme-court-texas-crow-thomas-19549205.php
The City of Fort Worth has intervened and is forcing the Fort Worth Botanic Garden to host a hateful conference being held by the extremist True Texas Project next weekend: https://fortworthreport.org/2024/07/04/fort-worths-ban-on-discriminatory-events-on-city-property-very-likely-to-be-removed/
Former USC and NFL QB Matt Leinart is the target of online backlash over a smiling photo he posted on July 4 with Ted Cruz: https://thespun.com/nfl/heisman-trophy-winner-is-getting-crushed-for-photo-with-ted-cruz
ALL progressives should learn all they can about Project 2025, in order to resist its becoming actual U.S. policy: https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A new poll (from a conservative think tank, mind you) shows only a three point advantage for Ted Cruz over Colin Allred, with women and independents far in Allred's favor: https://www.newsweek.com/ted-cruz-polls-texas-senate-allred-narrow-lead-1921176
A federal judge in Texas has temporarily blocked a new Federal Trade Commission ban on non-compete agreements: https://www.axios.com/2024/07/03/ftc-non-compete-agreement-ban-workers
Prisoners inside Texas' uncooled prisons plead for mercy as summer heat builds: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/texas-inmates-in-uncooled-prisons-plead-for-relief-in-another-hot-summer/
A former Republican Congressman writes on Christian Nationalism, which is more closely connected to the cultural fears of older white Texans than to their religious piety: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/2024/07/06/make-america-christian-again/
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following here at Progress Texas:
Austin U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett has become the first House Democrat to publicly call for President Biden to drop out of the 2024 race: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/02/us/who-is-lloyd-doggett-biden.html
...Dallas U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett disagrees strongly: https://x.com/JasmineForUS/status/1808295266992128154?t=5YH20SnNuChhoWaGrzrgIw&s=03
...As does Houston U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee: https://x.com/SJacksonLee/status/1808243082108063829?t=DQ_VZQ0ZX7_lkEd9dqdDMw&s=03
...Doggett uses President Lyndon Johnson's withdrawal from the 1968 race as an example - that ended in Richard Nixon handily defeating Hubert Humphrey: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/02/lloyd-doggett-joe-biden-withdraw-election/
The Biden Administration has issued a rule allowing emergency medical providers to conduct abortions in situations where the mother's life is at risk: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/biden-admin-directive-on-abortion-could-protect-texas-doctors-from-political-prosecution
The Biden Administration has also proposed new rules protecting workers from excessive heat, following the lead of Austin U.S. Rep. Greg Casar: https://www.ksat.com/news/texas/2024/07/02/biden-administration-proposes-rule-to-protect-workers-from-extreme-heat/
Ken Paxton has lost that legal battle he picked with longstanding immigrant shelter non-profit Annunciation House: https://www.chron.com/culture/religion/article/ken-paxton-annunication-house-texas-catholics-19551657.php
Amarillo voters will have a direct say in that city's proposed abortion ban, marking the closest Texas has seen to a direct referendum on reproductive rights: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/02/amarillo-texas-abortion-travel-ban/
Residents of Sutherland Springs are resisting plans for the 100 year old church that was the site of the 2017 mass shooting that took 26 lives and has been since been converted into a memorial: https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/sutherland-springs-church-raze-sanctuary-mass-19551486.php
"Texas Is In Danger Of Becoming A Theocracy": https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/opinions/columns/article/texas-school-vouchers-19524200.php
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The implications of the U.S. Supreme Court's granting of broad immunity to the President are only beginning to develop: https://apnews.com/article/trump-immunity-supreme-court-capitol-riot-trial-72ec35de776315183e1db561257cb108
...Basically, if the President wants you dead, you're dead: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/trump-immunity-supreme-court/
...Not easy, but the Trump call is the worst of the year for SCOTUS: https://progresstexas.org/blog/supreme-injustices-corrupt-high-court
Texas gun enthusiasts are also fixated on how the law might protect them should they decide to open fire: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-stand-your-ground-true-texas-project/
Houston multi-millionare mega-pastor Joel Osteen is mercilessly roasted for an out-of-touch tweet about "the simple things in life": https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13590173/Millionaire-televangelist-Joel-Osteen-roasted-tweet-followers-simple-things-life.html
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Friday's SCOTUS move to overturn Chevron v NRDC represents a massive power grab by MAGA courts: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/06/elena-kagan-dissent-supreme-court-john-roberts-chevron-disaster.html
...SCOTUS also backs the right to criminalize homelessness: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/28/supreme-court-texas-homelessness-camping-bans/
...While the Texas Supreme Court defends a Waco-area judge's right to refuse to marry same-sex couples: https://www.tpr.org/news/2024-06-29/waco-judge-can-sue-over-reprimand-for-not-marrying-gay-couples-texas-supreme-court-rules
...And a Sherman-based, Trump-appointed federal judge blocks a Biden administrative rule that would have required employers to fairly compensate salaried workers when they put in over 40 hours in a week: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-overtime-pay-ruling/269-236181d7-509f-41bd-a76a-c59c54db2748
A history professor who has correctly predicted 9 of the 10 last Presidential elections advises that replacing President Biden on the Democratic ticket would be "foolhardy nonsense": https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/06/30/lichtman-dems-replace-biden/74260967007/
Disgraced Gateway Church pastor Robert Morris once offered to pay off his child sex abuse accuser: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/28/robert-morris-gateway-child-abuse-transcript
...While four of Gateway's "elders" are taking a leave of absence while a legal review takes place: https://www.chron.com/culture/religion/article/robert-morris-sexual-abuse-elders-19546307.php
Dallas stands to become the largest Texas city to decriminalize small-time marijuana possession: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/dallas-largest-texas-city-to-decriminalize-marijuana/287-0d9cf889-dc1f-4b54-9084-5410a701a907
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
The conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people dates far, far back before the horrific events of October 7, 2023 - this is a generational conflict that is seen by some, especially considering recent events, as a truly unbridgeable divide. That's not the view of Atidna, a student-led and Texas-based organization that has dedicated itself to fostering positive connections between the two sides, partly in educating both on the many common aspects of their respective histories, and attempting to teach the potential rewards of peace over endless war - inspiring and critical efforts that have drawn the attention of national media and high-level elected officials.
Learn more about Atidna at https://www.atidnainternational.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how to support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Last night's debate between President Biden and Donald Trump was a failure...but this election is about more than two candidates - it's about two wildly different visions of America: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/trump-biden-debate-takeaways-19543481.php
...CNN's format allowed Trump to tell dozens of lies with no fact-checking guardrails: https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-misinformation-election-debate-trump-biden-577507522762aa10f6ee5be3a0ced2bb
Two Uvalde police officers have become the first of the dozens who were onsite during the Robb Elementary mass murder in 2022: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/two-uvalde-officers-indicted-over-deadly-texas-school-shooting-local-media-2024-06-27/
A 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling appears to indicate that a federal investigation into the same allegations that led to Ken Paxton's impeachment is in fact moving forward: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/27/ken-paxton-federal-investigation/
Texas is one of 13 states who opted OUT of a generous U.S. Department of Agriculture program to help feed economically-challenged kids during the summer, when their families cannot rely on school for meals: https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-texas-among-13-states-rejecting-program-summer-meals-kids-2024-6
It's the final weekend of Pride Month! Check out the history of Pride and a full calendar of events happening across Texas throughout the month: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Texas Criminal Court of Appeals has denied, without explanation, a request from Travis County DA Jose Garza to review Governor Greg Abbott's unorthodox pardoning of convicted murderer Daniel Perry: https://apnews.com/article/black-lives-matter-shooting-pardon-93855c04f27b5f7a8eb4c4d684534a03
79 of the misdemeanor criminal trespass cases stemming from the crackdown on pro-Palestinian protests at UT Austin in April have been dismissed: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/26/university-of-texas-protesters-79-charges-dropped/
Steven Monacelli dives into the details of Gateway Church, rocked lately by a child sex abuse scandal, and its broad connection to far-right, Christian Nationalist politics: https://www.texasobserver.org/pastor-texas-gop-christian-nationalism-sex-abuse/
Rural school districts are lately hiring far more unlicensed teachers than those with proper credentials: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/unlicensed-teachers-dominate-new-teacher-hires-in-rural-texas-schools-19418069
The epic battle between Dallas U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett and MAGA darling Marjorie Taylor Greene continues: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4733614-jasmine-crockett-marjorie-taylor-greene/
...While Brigitte Bandit gets her shots at MTG in as well: https://time.com/6992726/marjorie-taylor-greene-slammed-by-texas-drag-artist/
Pride Month continues! Check out the history of Pride and a full calendar of events happening across Texas throughout the month: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The spike in infant mortality relative to abortion restrictions in Texas lays bare the cruelty of hopeless pregnancies forced to term: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/texass-pro-life-abortion-law-has-literally-led-to-more-infant-deaths
Brad Pritchett of Equality Texas weighs in on the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to consider laws barring transgender youth from medical care: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-lgbtq-supreme-court-transgender-rights/3575310/
...Houston surgeon Eithan Heim directly violated his HIPAA training in releasing confidential patient records to a right-wing blogger, rather than filing official complaints about his suspicions of malfeasance: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/crime/2024/06/25/eithan-haim-texas-transgender-care-whistleblower-never-filed-complaint-houston-childrens-hospital/74197903007/
The Texas Rangers remain the only Major League Baseball team that doesn't host a Pride Night: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/state/2024/06/25/texas-rangers-only-mlb-team-without-lgbtq-pride-night/74203298007/
...The team's official statement, claiming to welcome all in the conspicuous absence of Pride recognition, coddles its most homophobic fans: https://apnews.com/article/rangers-pride-mlb-lgbtq-4671a9124b12cf2b67f1bfbf405af99b
...For example, former pitcher Derek Holland, who took to Twitter to defend the Rangers in an anti-Pride screed: https://www.si.com/mlb/rangers/former-texas-rangers-pitcher-takes-dig-at-pride-month-lgbtq-community
...Speaking of which, Pride Month continues! Check out the history of Pride and a full calendar of events happening across Texas throughout the month: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Vice President Kamala Harris, in a talk with Sheryl Lee Ralph, calls out the barbarity of Texas' abortion ban (index to 7:30): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GVaSFsHQuY
...Progress Texas runs down the two years since the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v Wade: https://progresstexas.org/blog/two-years-terror-pregnant-texans-after-roe-reversal
...Our official statement: https://progresstexas.org/blog/statement-healthcare-horror-stories-rise-dobbs-second-anniversary
...Post-Roe Texas has seen a dramatic rise in infant deaths and births with frequently-fatal congenital anomalies: https://www.sciencealert.com/texas-abortion-ban-linked-to-marked-increase-in-infant-deaths-study-finds
...Two new books detail the post-Roe world and the threats that lie ahead: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/fall-of-roe-undue-burden-dobbs-anniversary-abortion-texas/
...While Ken Paxton's office celebrates "Sanctity Of Life Day", celebrating the state's encroachment on the basic bodily autonomy of half its population: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-celebrates-sanctity-life-day-second-anniversary-end-roe-v-wade
SCOTUS will consider a Tennessee ban on transgender care for young people, which could have implications for a similar law in Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/24/tennessee-scotus-transgender-medical-care-texas/
GOP U.S. Reps Ronny Jackson and Wesley Hunt have been targeted by the Office of Congressional Ethics under suspicion of spending campaign funds illegally at Texas social clubs: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4737858-ethics-office-wesley-hunt-ronnny-jackson-campaign-funds/
...While Republican U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls continues wearing a military medal that the U.S. Army confirms he did not earn: https://www.notus.org/house/army-confirms-troy-nehls-ineligible-combat-badge
PT board member Jason Smith spells out plain as day why Texans should vote for Democrats this fall: https://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/other-voices/article289439792.html
D/FW folks: TONIGHT'S the night! We hope to see YOU at our 14th Anniversary and Election Preview Fundraiser in Dallas on Tuesday June 25: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2024anniversary
It's Pride Month! Check out the history of Pride and a full calendar of events happening across Texas throughout the month: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Pride Month 2024 sees an incredible expansion of Pride celebrations and activism across the state - much of that in rural and small-town Texas, which until just recently, was near-unthinkable. As we know, over the past few sessions, Texas has also set new standards for legislative bigotry and cruelty towards its LGBTQ+ community. So, the push for equality and equity has never been stronger - while the opposition has never been more hateful. We welcome two of the community's most determined advocates to talk Texas Pride, both returning to the pod: Ricardo Martinez, CEO of Equality Texas, and Jeff Strater, DNC Member-Elect, Democratic/SDEC Committeeman and former president of Texas Stonewall Democrats.
Learn more about Equality Texas at https://www.equalitytexas.org/.
Learn more about Texas Stonewall Democrats at http://www.stonewalldemocrats.us/texas.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The second anniversary of the 2022 Dobbs decision at SCOTUS sees the almost-complete eradication of abortions in Texas - at least those that are legal or safe: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/24/abortion-dobbs-anniversary-pregnancy-complications/
...The Texas Medical Board provided minor and largely useless new reporting guidelines on medically-necessary abortions for doctors on Friday: https://apnews.com/article/abortion-texas-exceptions-doctors-a14839a308b3d7779b83677b1be7fa1c
...While a new horror emerges in forced C-section operations for stillborn fetuses: https://www.reckon.news/family/2024/04/from-forced-c-sections-to-delayed-miscarriage-care-here-are-5-ways-abortion-bans-are-changing-pregnancy-care.html
Over the two years since the Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde, Texas DPS has gone to extraordinary lengths NOT to release any data to the press: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/yall-itics/uvalde-shooting-dps-data-evidence-lawsuit/287-4a840e02-4d87-436a-9529-12deb00c0134
SCOTUS counters the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, deciding that allowing domestic abuse suspects to keep their guns is a bad idea after all: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/21/supreme-court-guns-domestic-violence-rahimi/
Robert Morris' 2005 book acknowledges he left the ministry for two years, but glosses over the reason, which was the complaint from his child sexual assault victim - while new legislation extending the statute of limitations on child sex crimes may be coming next year: https://www.wfaa.com/video/news/crime/287-62013cc8-9fcc-45a6-b2a3-8cc90bc58905
D/FW folks: Come see us TOMORROW at our 14th Anniversary and Election Preview Fundraiser in Dallas on Tuesday June 25: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2024anniversary
It's Pride Month! Check out the history of Pride and a full calendar of events happening across Texas throughout the month: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Audio captured during a Gateway Church staff meeting, called to announce the resignation of Pastor Robert Morris, includes a board member calling accepting the resignation as a "difficult" decision: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/gateway-church-leader-announces-robert-morris-resignation-audio-rcna158026
...Due to Texas' statute of limitations, Morris is unlikely to be charged - and efforts to change that statute have met resistence from Republican lawmakers: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/north-texas-victims-rights-attorney-fighting-to-change-statute-of-limitations-for-exploited-women/
...While another church-related sex abuse scandal involving children pops up in Granbury and Lubbock: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-youth-pastor-arrested-child-sex-assault-charge/287-8e44bf40-b821-49b1-8e20-816f7cab8c93
More Texas-related pending SCOTUS cases include one of a Castle Hills City Councilwoman who charges that she was arrested out of retaliation on trumped-up charges: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/20/us/politics/supreme-court-sylvia-gonzalez-arrest-free-speech.html
...While a North Texas man's case pushing for allowances under the 2nd Amendment for people under protective order restrictions to keep their guns is being considered by SCOTUS as well: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/scotus-to-rule-on-a-texas-mans-second-amendment-challenge-of-law-protecting-domestic-violence-victims/
Austin U.S. Rep. Greg Casar writes in an op-ed that while GOP culture wars must be resisted, they are also meant to distract progressives away from other nefarious conservative agenda items: https://www.austinchronicle.com/columns/2024-06-21/opinion-the-right-wing-is-attacking-queer-and-trans-americans-to-distract-from-their-bigger-agenda/
D/FW folks: Come see us at our 14th Anniversary and Election Preview Fundraiser in Dallas on Tuesday June 25: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2024anniversary
It's Pride Month! Check out the history of Pride and a full calendar of events happening across Texas throughout the month: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning:
Members of the state's Maternal Morbidity Review Committee express concern that the addition of a vocal anti-choice OB/GYN presents unfavorable optics for the entire committee: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/18/texas-maternal-deaths-committee-changes/
The Texas Department of Agriculture, after a year with a blatantly trans-phobic office dress code, remains on thin legal ice: https://www.texasobserver.org/sid-miller-transphobic-dress-code-emails/
Ted Cruz is on blast from his fellow Senators after mucking up the process of legislation providing subsidies for internet access improvement for low-income Americans: https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4728744-cruz-blocking-bipartisan-spectrum-bill/
See the most recent episode of the Y'all-itics podcast for a solid explainer of how ERCOT and the Texas power grid place profits over people: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/greed-and-the-grid-texas-energy-experts-theory-about/id1486881900?i=1000659160601
...While the Texas Supreme Court sides with the PUC, who set power prices to the maximum level allowed during the 2021 Winter Storm Uri energy crisis: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/texas/electricity-prices-winter-storm-texas-supreme-court-ruling/269-b337a5a5-fd61-400a-a04a-c7572e66604b
D/FW folks: Come see us at our 14th Anniversary and Election Preview Fundraiser in Dallas on June 25: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2024anniversary
It's Pride Month! Check out the history of Pride and a full calendar of events happening across Texas throughout the month: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
For the fourth year, today sees Juneteenth celebrated nationwide as a federal holiday: https://apnews.com/article/what-is-juneteenth-celebration-ideas-federal-holiday-2f7116be4418065cd954b6dbf98c62b8
...The history of Juneteenth is one of the advance of freedom and progressive solidarity: https://www.splcenter.org/hopewatch/2024/06/18/juneteenth-national-celebration-history
...A history and listing of today's Juneteenth events statewide: https://progresstexas.org/blog/juneteenth-road-freedom
...Dallas' Fair Park will host Opal Lee's Walk For Freedom today: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/opals-walk-for-freedom-set-to-take-place-in-dallas/3570880/
The disgraceful scandal at Gateway Church in Southlake develops: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/robert-morris-gateway-church-19520887.php
...Robert Morris' victim, Cindy Clemishire, has been trying to get the attention of church leaders for almost 20 years: https://x.com/AmeliaJonesTV/status/1803195765054992489
Should they obey Governor Greg Abbott's instructions to ignore new Title IX revisions protecting LGBTQ+ students, Texas universities risk losing billions in federal funding: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4728053-texas-risks-losing-billions-in-federal-funds-over-abbott-lgbtq-directive-say-democrats/
D/FW folks: Come see us at our 14th Anniversary and Election Preview Fundraiser in Dallas on June 25: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2024anniversary
It's Pride Month! Check out the history of Pride and a full calendar of events happening across Texas throughout the month: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Robert Morris, pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake, is out after the public revelation that he sexually abused a young girl for four years in the 1980's: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/i-was-a-12-years-old-woman-accuses-gateway-church-founder-of-molesting-her-as-a-child/
...Morris is chummy with both Governor Greg Abbott and Senator Ted Cruz: https://x.com/MrsAMartini/status/1802917597286969565?t=JFcQSbPuXFhQJ88EB1trcg&s=03
Texas surgeon Eithan Heim, accused of leaking the private medical records of young transgender patients at Texas Children's Hospital to Ken Paxton's office, pled not guilty to four federal charges of HIPAA violations yesterday: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/health/article/houston-doctor-accused-illegally-obtaining-child-19518067.php
A Houston man was sentenced to 33 months in prison over several violent threats he made in 2022 against California Congresswoman Maxine Waters: https://westsidetoday.com/2024/06/17/texas-man-sentenced-to-33-months-for-threatening-u-s-rep-maxine-waters/
The notoriously conservative U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas has adopted a new rule to prevent civil cases from being taken out of its jurisdiction: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/texas-court-favored-by-conservatives-pause-transferring-cases-elsewhere-2024-06-17/
Lawyers with Ken Paxton's office argued yesterday in El Paso for the shutdown of Annunciation House, whom they accuse of human smuggling: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/17/texas-el-paso-migrant-shelter-hearing-annunciation-house/
...While Operation Lone Star troops have taken to firing mace-laced "pepper balls" at migrants crossing the border: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/18/texas-national-guard-border-migrants-pepper-ball-guns/
UT Austin, facing multiple political and PR crises, has laid off two dozen employees working in its communications and marketing departments: https://www.kut.org/education/2024-06-17/university-of-texas-communications-staff-pro-palestinian-campus-protests-anti-dei-law
D/FW folks: Come see us at our 14th Anniversary and Election Preview Fundraiser in Dallas on June 25: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2024anniversary
It's Pride Month! Check out the history of Pride and a full calendar of events happening across Texas throughout the month: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Young voters - those under 25 - represent a huge percentage of the electorate in Texas, large enough to make decisive differences in electoral outcomes in upcoming elections, most notably at present the one we're working towards in November. But - are we reaching them effectively? Have established progressive political entities done a good job in communicating with and activating this all-important voting bloc? That's a difficult question to answer - and to try to answer it, Progress Texas Advocacy Associate Tatum Owens and Digital Associate Haley Smith have assembled three Texas advocates who have been active in organizing and motivating their fellow young voters: we welcome Gracie Israel, Regional Program Coordinator for Texas Rising's efforts in north Houston, College Station and Prairie View, Jeffrey Clemons, Organizing Manager for Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, and Alexis Kosloski, a Dallas-based advocate who works alongside multiple voter outreach organizations.
Learn more about Texas Rising at https://txrising.org/.
Learn more about Planned Parenthood Texas Votes at https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/planned-parenthood-texas-votes/elections.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and support our ongoing mission at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Austin gun store owner Michael Cargill's lawsuit opposing the federal ban on bump stock devices that allow semi-automatic rifles to be fired like machine guns succeeds, putting those devices back on the market: https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-supreme-court-backs-challenge-federal-ban-gun-bump-stocks-2024-06-14/
Abortion opponents will NOT rest following SCOTUS's call last week not to rule on a challenge to the FDA's approval of the abortion drug mifepristone: https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/15/politics/abortion-judge-matthew-kacsmaryk-supreme-court-mifepristone/index.html
Longtime Republican activist, Southern Baptist leader, and accused sexual predator Paul Pressler has died at 94: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/15/paul-pressler-dead-southern-baptist-convention/
A federal judge has blocked the liquidation of the Austin-based parent company of Alex Jones' Infowars network, potentially allowing it to keep operating while a $1.5 billion judgement against Jones in the Sandy Hook case is pursued: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alex-jones-infowars-assets-bankruptcy-sandy-hook-conspiracy/
Efforts to set up a separate stock exchange in Texas come with warnings to potential investors that our state has become known for interfering in business over political matters: https://www.ft.com/content/191394f1-ef8e-423e-b2b3-b8db6b620d05
D/FW folks: Come see us at our 14th Anniversary and Election Preview Fundraiser in Dallas on June 25: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2024anniversary
It's Pride Month! Check out the history of Pride and a full calendar of events happening across Texas throughout the month: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A lawsuit against the FDA approval of the abortion drug mifepristone, having found favor in the courtroom of Amarillo anti-abortion federal judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, has failed at the U.S. Supreme Court: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/13/supreme-court-texas-mifepristone-ruling-abortion/
...Meanwhile, Kacsmaryk is staying busy - he's temporarily blocked that new ATF rule requiring background checks on gun transactions at gun shows and online: https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/south-texas-el-paso/news/2024/06/13/judge-blocks-atf-rule-on-expanded-firearms-background-checks
A Fort Worth man has been charged with making threats to an FBI agent over the Hunter Biden case, in a repulsive expression of bloodthirsty rage: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/texas-man-charged-threatening-federal-agent-guns/story?id=111112158
ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas revises his estimates of grid capacity growth requirements over the rest of the decade, which he thinks will need to almost double from today's figures - due to demands from crypto-currency mining and AI data centers: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidblackmon/2024/06/13/ercot-ceo-stuns-texas-officials-with-new-estimate-for-power-needs/
A new Texas Observer essay depicts in heartbreaking detail the desperation of migrants trapped between American razor wire and Mexican cartel bandits at our border: https://www.texasobserver.org/between-the-concertina-wire-and-the-cartel/
D/FW folks: Come see us at our 14th Anniversary and Election Preview Fundraiser in Dallas on June 25: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2024anniversary
It's Pride Month! Check out the history of Pride and a full calendar of events happening across Texas throughout the month: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Zurawski v Texas plaintiff Lauren Miller testified before Congress this week: https://x.com/ReproRights/status/1801008213766058022?t=PuKkGeM89NN4au_k_4eMFA&s=03
...A Ted Cruz-sponsored bill that would have withheld Medicaid funding for entire states over IVF policies has been blocked by Senate Democrats: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/12/ted-cruz-ivf-bill-democrats/
The Fort Worth Botanic Garden has announced that it will NOT host a right-wing extremist seminar announced by the True Texas Project: https://www.facebook.com/FortWorthBotanicGarden
...All of the ideas being promoted by this event have become central to Texas Republican thinking: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/texas/2024/06/12/490389/war-on-white-america-influential-texas-group-hosting-pro-christian-nationalism-conference/
...All of which are patently ridiculous and counter to fact: https://newsone.com/5300479/texas-white-nationalist-group-conference-war-on-white-america/
The ACLU, as expected, has filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration over its recent move largely shutting down asylum for immigrants: https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/12/politics/aclu-bidens-border-executive-action/index.html
...While a Fort Worth judge has also struck down the Biden administration's extending Title IX protections to LGBTQ+ students: https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/bidens-title-ix-protections-lgbtq-students-struck-texas-court-rcna156784
...In better news, an Travis County judge has dismissed Ken Paxton's lawsuit against the City over its deprioritization of low level marijuana enforcement: https://www.kxan.com/news/travis-county-judge-dismisses-ag-paxton-lawsuit-over-austin-marijuana-ordinance/
Advocacy Associate Tatum Owens reviews our experience in El Paso during the Texas Democratic Convention: https://progresstexas.org/blog/5-progressive-takeaways-2024-texas-democratic-convention
...During which we were excited to meet Brigitte Bandit! https://www.chron.com/politics/article/brigitte-bandit-texas-drag-queen-19507260.php
D/FW folks: Come see us at our 14th Anniversary and Election Preview Fundraiser in Dallas on June 25: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2024anniversary
It's Pride Month! Check out the history of Pride and a full calendar of events happening across Texas throughout the month: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Ken Paxton's lawsuit today against the Biden administration is over a new rule extending Medicaid protections for LGBTQ+ and transgender Texans against discrimination under the Affordable Care Act: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/11/ken-paxton-sues-biden-transition-race/
Four State GOP House Reps have been censured by their own party for campaigning against fellow Republican incumbents: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/11/texas-house-republicans-censured/
...The four defiantly say they'd have been happy to have been expelled from the Caucus altogether: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article289182239.html
The Amarillo City Council has rejected a proposed abortion travel ban, but it's likely to end up before local voters anyway: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/11/amarillo-city-council-abortion-travel-ban/
The Fort Worth Botanic Garden is set to host a day-long conference with the True Texas Project, a Southern Poverty Law Center-identified right-wing extremist group: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/12/true-texas-project-conference-christian-nationalism/
...Let the Fort Worth Botanic Garden know your opinion on what they've chosen to host: https://fwbg.org/about-us/staff/contact/
Best prepare yourself, as Texas ranks very low in a national ranking of disaster readiness: https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2024/06/11/texas-named-one-of-the-worst-states-for-disaster-preparedness-lets-fix-that/
Every Texan invites you to join in their new equity project, The People's Budget: https://everytexan.org/peoples-budget/
D/FW folks: Come see us at our 14th Anniversary and Election Preview Fundraiser in Dallas on June 25: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2024anniversary
It's Pride Month! Check out the history of Pride and a full calendar of events happening across Texas throughout the month: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Democratic National Committee has dedicated an additional $140,000 to turning our Texas Democrats in November: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/06/10/national-democratic-group-spends-140000-on-texas-voter-turnout-effort/
Federal authorities have launched an enforcement operation against "switches" - illegal handgun accessories that allow fully automatic fire of handguns: https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2024/06/10/us-attorneys-office-atf-announce-joint-initiative-focused-on-machine-gun-conversion-devices-in-texas/
...Handguns fired with switches are impossible to aim properly, and are thus extra hazardous: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/06/10/texas-crack-machine-gun-converters-3d-printers/74049460007/
A bomb threat against a monthly drag brunch and market in Austin led to the cancellation of the event on Sunday: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/austin/article/brewtorium-austin-19506648.php
Police in Flower Mound are looking for two cretins seen distributing sandwich bags full of anti-Semitic and homophobic flyers around town: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/crime/police-investigating-bags-of-homophobic-antisemitic-flyers-flower-mound-north-texas/287-d88ea8ee-a3cb-422b-92ec-aacf533aa630
Another orphan well in the Permian oil patch has erupted with toxic produced water: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/11/west-texas-orphan-wells-water-bursts/
A Houston surgeon who leaked private Texas Childrens Hospital records on transgender care with right wing activists at the behest of Ken Paxton is now facing federal HIPAA charges: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/health-science/2024/06/10/490080/whistleblower-faces-federal-charges-after-exposing-alleged-continuation-of-gender-affirming-care-at-texas-childrens-hospital/
Paxton's lawsuit against the City of Austin over its new local ordinace deprioritizing low-level marijuana offenses is being heard in an Austin courtroom this week: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-austin-marijuana-ordinance/269-d30c2bcf-fde8-4ad4-bed7-ddb3b9333879
D/FW folks: Come see us at our 14th Anniversary and Election Preview Fundraiser in Dallas on June 25: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2024anniversary
It's Pride Month! Check out the history of Pride and a full calendar of events happening across Texas throughout the month: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Texas Democratic Convention wrapped with solid messages of progressive solidarty against encroaching authoritarianism: https://www.keranews.org/texas-news/2024-06-08/texas-democratic-convention-wrapup-el-paso-democrats-cautious-optimism-dire-warnings-november-election
...The resulting platform the polar opposite of the odious Texas GOP platform that emerged from San Antonio recently: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/06/09/texas-democratic-platform-supports-guaranteed-right-to-abortion-opposes-school-choice/
...Including the apparent fear Republicans harbor about their future prospects: https://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/editorials/article289094514.html
...A new group aiming to establish more permanent, year-round Democratic infrastructure was unveiled at the Convention: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/06/texas-democratic-pac-party-convention-agave/
D/FW folks: missed the Convention? Come see us at our 14th Anniversary and Election Preview Fundraiser in Dallas on June 25: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2024anniversary
Lots of great Pride events happening this weekend across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Right off the bat - literally, immediately after the Progress Texas team touched down in El Paso on Thursday - we hosted a special live podcast recording to help kick off this year's Texas Democratic Convention at the El Paso Convention Center! We continued our ongoing series with terrific Texas political influencers on the topic of abortion rights before a packed house! Progress Texas Executive Director Kathleen Thompson moderated a stellar panel: TX-15 U.S. Congressional nominee Michelle Vallejo, former State Senator and reproductive rights icon Wendy Davis, and for the first time on our podcasts, reproductive rights advocate Amanda Zurawski. Thanks to all of them, and to all of you who attended live!
Learn more about Amanda Zurawski and her fellow plaintiffs in their courageous lawsuit against the State of Texas at https://reproductiverights.org/zurawski-v-texas-plaintiffs-stories-remarks/.
Learn more about Michelle Vallejo's campaign for the U.S. Congress at https://www.michellefortx15.com/.
Learn more about Wendy Davis and the rest of the Planned Parenthood Texas Votes leadership team at https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/planned-parenthood-texas-votes/leadership-team.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The 2024 Texas Democratic Party Convention is underway in El Paso, where abortion rights, border concerns, public schools and gun safety are among the top topics: https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/texas-democratic-convention-2024-el-paso/
...The party is looking to unify and end its long drought in statewide electoral wins, with a focus on Dallas U.S. Rep. Colin Allred's challenge to Republican Senator Ted Cruz: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/06/07/texas-democrats-begin-state-convention-in-familiar-position-out-of-power-but-hopeful/
...It's hot in El Paso - but, it's also unusually hot across the Southwest. ERCOT is set to announce its risk assessment for the hottest part of the summer today: https://www.expressnews.com/business/article/ercot-cps-energy-texas-shatter-peak-use-record-19496926.php
Also relative to El Paso, the narrow runoff win of Republican U.S. Rep Tony Gonzales is being called into question by his opponent, Brandon "The A.K. Guy" Herrera: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/06/texas-election-recount-brandon-herrera/
Houston-area Republican U.S. Rep Troy Nehls is being accused by his fellow conservatives and veterans of "stolen valor" as he has continued to wear a medal he did not earn: https://www.notus.org/congress/troy-nehls-combat-infantry-badge-pin-revoked
Lots of great Pride events happening this weekend across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The PT crew is headed west to El Paso today for the Texas Democratic Convention! https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/politics/2024/06/03/democratic-convention-2024-guests-include-beto-orourke-colin-allred/73908478007/
...Abortion rights and gun safety are expected to be high on the priority list of issues - similar issues to those the Republicans addressed at their convention in San Antonio, but clearly from a different angle: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/05/26/texas-democratic-convention-2024-el-paso-june-6-issues-agenda/73836360007/
...We hope to see you at our live podcast taping on reproductive freedom tonight! Starts at 5pm MOUNTAIN (6pm Central): https://progresstexas.org/blog/live-texas-democratic-party-convention-abortion-and-our-freedoms-2024
It's gonna be HOT in El Paso, and across the Southwest as a potentially-record-setting heat wave arrives: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/weather/2024/06/04/heat-wave-weather-forecast-tuesday-california-texas/73966281007/
...The early arrival of this kind of heat is dangerous, as people have not yet acclimated to high temperatures: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jun/06/dangerous-heatwave-texas-arizona-nevada-california-
...Drought related insurance claims have hit highs far outpacing inflation, and Texas farmers lead the nation in making these claims: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/06/texas-drought-crop-insurance-climate-change/
Ground Game Texas invites Dallas residents to sign their Dallas Freedom Act Petition, aiming to eliminate prosecution for low-level marijuana possession: https://www.groundgametexas.org/dallas
Pride Month is underway! Our D'Angelo Colter has a great history and rundown of events statewide through the annual month of celebration: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
President Biden's executive order limiting asylum requests at the border raises almost universal concern, including from his supporters on the left: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/04/texas-mexico-border-biden-immigration-asylum-policy/
...The ACLU is talking legal action AGAINST President Biden's move: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/06/04/texas-border-mayors-join-biden-as-he-unveils-new-asylum-restrictions-to-stem-migrant-flow/
...Austin U.S. Rep. Greg Casar points to the root cause of the problem - unrest and instability in Latin America: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4703081-texas-democrat-biden-asylum-order-isnt-going-to-work/
Travis County D.A. Jose Garza is asking the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for a writ of mandamus to overturn Governor Abbott's pardon of murderer Daniel Perry: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/texas-court-asked-reverse-pardon-black-lives-matter-protest-killing-2024-06-05/
Elon Musk's X (or Twitter, or whatever) has announced broad, new allowances for adult content that may run afoul of new anti-porn laws in Texas: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/x-adult-content-policy-twitter-19493384.php
Pride Month is underway! Our D'Angelo Colter has a great history and rundown of events statewide through the annual month of celebration: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas
We hope to see you Thursday in El Paso for our live podcast taping at the Texas Democratic Convention: https://progresstexas.org/blog/live-texas-democratic-party-convention-abortion-and-our-freedoms-2024
Progress Texas could use your help in funding our trip to June's Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - thanks in advance! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A significant announcement about border policy, likely placing limits on daily asylum requests, is expected today: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/nation-world/biden-prepares-tough-executive-order-that-would-shut-down-asylum-after-2500-migrants-arrive-a-day/507-8e827a7f-ae75-4ce7-b53d-d984894db159
The temporary Texas block on new federal ATF rules expanding requirements of background checks during private firearms sales appears to have ended: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/new-gun-law-texas-pause-appears-to-end-following-lawsuit/269-dcef5b01-b4ca-47b6-ad5a-d79539fb0e93
...Texas Gun Sense invites you to sign on to an open letter to Attorney General Ken Paxton, condemning his efforts to keep firearms purchases for felons and abusers easy: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1a_hfP8dEyWgbJD5O5IMdgqNu3JzxpSmCjcXm0b6Tpy8/viewform?ts=665a164a&edit_requested=true
Two UT Austin professors have joined the state's lawsuit fighting against expanded Title IX protections against sexual abuse and discrimination - but focus on opposing their students' abortion rights: https://www.universityherald.com/articles/78970/20240604/ut-austin-professors-join-lawsuit-against-new-title-ix-regulations.htm
...Current Texas abortion law hinges on the intimidation of doctors, for whom every call for abortion care could spell prison and more: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/06/texas-abortion-ban-horror-blame-doctors-medical-catastrophe.html
...Lawsuit plaintiff Jessica Bernardo recommends that pregnant Texans, if they can, set aside money in case they need to flee the state for reproductive care: https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/-have-a-back-up-plan-warns-plaintiff-after-texas-supreme-court-rejects-challenge-to-abortion-law-212169285571
...Lawsuit plaintiff Lauren Miller recalls the fear she saw in her Texas doctors, and places the blame on Donald Trump: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/06/texas-abortion-ban-horror-blame-doctors-medical-catastrophe.html
...Lawsuit lead plaintiff Amanda Zurawski will join Progress Texas for a live podcast taping on Thursday in El Paso: https://progresstexas.org/blog/live-texas-democratic-party-convention-abortion-and-our-freedoms-2024
Good news: the national Democratic Party is dedicating significant resources to Colin Allred's campaign against Ted Cruz: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/04/texas-us-senate-2024-colin-allred-ted-cruz-beto-orourke/
Bad news: the national Republican Party is dedicating increased resources to flipping the seat of indicted Democratic U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/03/republican-cuellar-investment
Pride Month is underway! Our D'Angelo Colter has a great history and rundown of events statewide through the annual month of celebration: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas
Progress Texas could use your help in funding our trip to June's Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - thanks in advance! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Friday's decision not to protect pregnant Texans and their doctors by the Texas Supreme Court should provide motivation for pro-choice voters to unite: https://www.reuters.com/legal/texas-top-court-wont-guarantee-right-abortion-complicated-pregnancies-2024-05-31/
...We hope to see you Thursday in El Paso for our live podcast taping at the Texas Democratic Convention: https://progresstexas.org/blog/live-texas-democratic-party-convention-abortion-and-our-freedoms-2024
Longtime Houston U.S. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee has announced a pancreatic cancer diagnosis: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/06/03/rep-sheila-jackson-lee-pancreatic-cancer/
National coverage of the bitter division within the Texas Republican Party continues: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4696987-texas-republicans-gop-dade-phelan-donald-trump-tony-gonzales-school-vouchers/
...While their nutty platform also continues to draw national embarrassment to our state: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/06/03/texas-republican-party-new-platform/
...And middle-aged white Republican women are found by a study to be misinformation "super-sharers": https://www.expressnews.com/news/texas/article/fake-news-republican-white-women-texas-19490227.php
Another study done by MIT on U.S. Rep. Greg Casar's proposed connection of the Texas energy grid to neighboring grids predicts multiple reliability and environmental benefits: https://www.eenews.net/articles/blackouts-could-be-slashed-if-texas-joins-the-u-s-grid-study/
Coming to the Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso? Get there early enough on Thursday June 6 to join us for our Abortion And Our Freedoms 2024 panel, featuring reproductive rights advocate Amanda Zurawski, TX-15 Congressional candidate and Progress Texas endorsee Michelle Vallejo, and repro rights icon and current Planned Parenthood Senior Advisor Wendy Davis! 5pm to 6pm (MOUNTAIN time, mind you) in Juarez B of the El Paso Convention Center: https://www.mobilize.us/texasdemocrats/event/628166/
Progress Texas could use your help in funding our trip to June's Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - thanks in advance! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
The conversation on abortion rights and reproductive freedom in Texas has been freshly reinvigorated by the Texas Supreme Court's abject failure to protect pregnant Texans or even to provide guidance to Texas doctors facing pregnancy emergencies. We continue our six part series of conversations with influential Texas progressive women on this all-important issue, in this case gathering three guests, each for the first time: State Representative Gina Hinojosa has represented Austin in the Texas House since 2017, Abbie Kamin has served on the Houston City Council representing District C since 2020, and Dr. Sukh Kaur is one of the newest members of the San Antonio City Council, elected last June to serve District 1.
Learn more about Rep. Hinojosa at https://house.texas.gov/members/member-page/?district=49.
Learn more about Council Member Abbie Kamin at https://www.houstontx.gov/council/c/.
And, learn more about Council Member Dr. Sukh Kaur at https://www.sa.gov/Directory/Departments/Mayor-Council/City-Council/D1/Biography.
Note that the next installment in this series will be recorded LIVE next Thursday June 6 during the Texas Democratic Convention, featuring reproductive rights advocate Amanda Zurawski, former State Senator Wendy Davis, and U.S. Congressional nominee Michelle Vallejo! If you'll be in El Paso, please plan to arrive early enough to join us - we'll start at 5pm MOUNTAIN Time (6pm Central): https://progresstexas.org/blog/live-texas-democratic-party-convention-abortion-and-our-freedoms-2024
Thanks for listening! Learn more about what we do and the various and fun ways you can help support our ongoing work at Progress Texas at https://progresstexas.org/.
Today, the Texas Supreme Court did what we all thought they would do: they left pregnant Texans and their doctors at the mercy of Ken Paxton and our state's ham-fisted, ill-considered and morally repugnant ban on abortion care.
This update contains short statements from Progress Texas Executive Director Kathleen Thompson and Advocacy Manager Reagan Stone, plus an important and in-depth analysis by Progress Texas board member and Fort Worth-based civil rights attorney Jason Smith, our go-to for complex legal matters.
A reminder that Amanda Zurawski herself will join us for a live podcast taping next Thursday at the Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - even more than yesterday, we'd love to have you there: https://progresstexas.org/blog/live-texas-democratic-party-convention-abortion-and-our-freedoms-2024
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The conviction of former President Donald Trump on 34 felony counts yesterday brings out Republican outrage against our system of justice, and Democratic calls for decency: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/05/30/34-guilty-verdicts-for-trump-2-very-different-reactions-from-texas-republicans-democrats/
...However, Trump's court loss could reinvigorate his support among Texas GOP voters who love outlaws: https://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/bud-kennedy/article288894752.html
...Many of whom are now being intimidated into turning out for Trump: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/05/30/texas-republican-trump-flyer-reddit-election-mailer/73912292007/
Another plank of the new Texas GOP platform: an election system modeled after the Electoral College placing statewide elections at the county level, which would render Democrats permanently powerless: https://truthout.org/articles/texas-republicans-offer-up-a-christian-nationalist-anti-democracy-platform/
Pride Month starts tomorrow! Our D'Angelo Colter has a great history and rundown of events statewide through the annual month of celebration: https://progresstexas.org/blog/deep-heart-pride-celebration-pride-month-texas
Coming to the Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso? Get there early enough on Thursday June 6 to join us for our Abortion And Our Freedoms 2024 panel, featuring reproductive rights advocate Amanda Zurawski, TX-15 Congressional candidate and Progress Texas endorsee Michelle Vallejo, and repro rights icon and current Planned Parenthood Senior Advisor Wendy Davis! 5pm to 6pm (MOUNTAIN time, mind you) in Juarez B of the El Paso Convention Center: https://www.mobilize.us/texasdemocrats/event/628166/
Progress Texas could use your help in funding our trip to June's Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - thanks in advance! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A large group of state attorneys general is calling on the U.S. Justice Department to probe the murder of BLM protestor Garrett Foster and the pardoning of his killer, Daniel Perry, by Governor Abbott earlier this month: https://www.reuters.com/legal/federal-probe-urged-black-lives-matter-protest-killing-after-texas-pardon-2024-05-29/
A new investigation finds that Attorney General Ken Paxton has been stretching the limits of consumer protection laws to harass political targets: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/30/ken-paxton-texas-ag-political-targets-health-care-lgbtq/
Democratic U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar, already indicted in a bribery case, is now being scrutinized by the U.S. House Ethics Committee: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-ethics-committee-opens-investigation-rep-henry-cuellar-rcna154602
Houston U.S. Representative Al Green is calling on federal agencies to investigate alleged rerouting of Texas public school funds to out-of-state charter schools founded by Houston ISD superintendent Mike Miles: https://x.com/TxEdHouston/status/1796000397443596498?t=KqkTao7dL7mULu8qdBLWng&s=03
The most extreme right wing of the Texas Republican Party fell just short of a coup of next year's legislative session - not that they'll stop trying: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/29/us/texas-republican-primaries-dade-phelan.html
The "mudsill theory of labor", used to justify slavery before the Civil War, underpins many of the crazy things Republicans push for these days: https://newrepublic.com/article/181939/republicans-want-permanent-economic-underclass
Coming to the Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso? Get there early enough on Thursday June 6 to join us for our Abortion And Our Freedoms 2024 panel, featuring reproductive rights advocate Amanda Zurawski, TX-15 Congressional candidate and Progress Texas endorsee Michelle Vallejo, and repro rights icon and current Planned Parenthood Senior Advisor Wendy Davis! 5pm to 6pm (MOUNTAIN time, mind you) in Juarez B of the El Paso Convention Center: https://www.mobilize.us/texasdemocrats/event/628166/
Progress Texas could use your help in funding our trip to June's Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - thanks in advance! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Trump and Paxton-backed hard-right challenge to Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan fails by a very small margin, in a relatively empty win for the GOP's more reasonable wing: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-runoff-elections-2024/
...Progress Texas endorsee Lauren Ashley Simmons scores a landslide win over incumbent State House Rep Shawn Thierry in Houston: https://www.fox26houston.com/news/texas-primary-election-runoff-lauren-simmons-unseats-incumbent-shawn-thierry-state-rep-race
...Also by a razor-thin margin, embattled Republican U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales survives a challenge by a gun rights YouTuber: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tony-gonzales-brandon-herrera-texas-runoff_n_66560247e4b052122749cada
...The runoff between State Senator Molly Cook and State Rep. Jarvis Johnson remains too close to call: https://apps.texastribune.org/features/2024/texas-may-2024-runoff-election-results/
The Amarillo City Council has temporarily deferred a decision on a petition-based abortion travel ban: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/28/amarillo-abortion-travel-ban/
...While anti-abortion activist OB/GYN Dr. Ingrid Skop, now on the state maternal moribidity committee, once testified before Congress in favor of forcing nine year old rape victims to carry pregnancies to term: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/23/texas-anti-abortion-activist
The Dallas Morning News editorial board advocates for political support for clean energy: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2024/05/29/as-storms-devastate-texas-must-work-towards-clean-energy-future/
Progress Texas could use your help in funding our trip to June's Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - thanks in advance! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Today is ELECTION DAY for the Texas primary runoffs! If you haven't voted yet and have questions: https://govotetexas.org/
For an election that statistically very few Texans will actually show up for, there's a ton at stake: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/28/texas-election-primary-runoff/
...The main theme of the runoff is the internal war being waged for the soul of the Texas Republican Party: https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/05/27/texass-republicans-eat-their-own
The final platform emerging from last week's Texas Republican Convention is a study in conservative extremism: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/05/27/texas-republicans-adopts-conservative-wish-list-for-the-2024-platform/73858798007/
...The state GOP has crazied itself out of almost all of its corporate convention sponsors: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/24/trump-republican-convention-splits-with-corporate-sponsors-.html
...Texas Republicans select a new chair in Abraham George, who we last saw heading out with a gun to confront a man he suspected of sleeping with his wife: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/24/texas-republican-party-chair-abraham-george/
Progress Texas could use your help in funding our trip to June's Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - thanks in advance! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texas will see 100-degree temps over the Memorial Day weekend - ERCOT says they're ready: https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/texas-power-demand-break-may-record-heat-wave-friday-2024-05-23/
...Should the AC stay on, get ready to pay up - Texas power costs are through the roof: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/23/texas-electricity-bill-help/
Is Ken Paxton under Federal investigation? Nobody seems to know, or is willing to pipe up: https://www.kut.org/2024-05-23/donald-trump-fbi-investigation-texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-grand-jury
A lawsuit filed by the family of Darryl George, the Barbers Hill ISD student now relegated to in-school suspension for an entire school year over his hairstyle, is now in the hands of a Galveston federal judge: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/fate-lawsuit-filed-texas-student-darryl-george-hairstyle-hands-federal-rcna153835
Governor Abbott's pardoning of Daniel Perry is a green light for extremists to target opponents of white supremacy: https://prospect.org/justice/2024-05-21-governor-texas-white-supremacist-violence-daniel-perry/
Today is the last day of early voting in the primary runoff! Get it done: https://govotetexas.org/
Progress Texas could use your help in funding our trip to June's Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - thanks in advance! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Today - May 24, 2024 - is the second anniversary of the horrific mass shooting incident at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, an instance of mass murder shocking both in its scale, and in the still-unbelievable display of incompetence that marked the botched response of multiple law enforcement agencies that day. Over the two years since, the Republican-dominated government of Texas has not only done nothing to address gun violence - they've gone out of their way to accelerate the proliferation of firearms across our state. As we mark this solemn occasion, we've invited back to the pod San Antonio State Senator Roland Gutierrez - a singular example of a lawmaker who has stood steadfastly by his constituents in their hour of need - to review his experiences with the families left behind, to tell us their stories, and to help us try to make even the slightest bit of sense of an utterly senseless tragedy.
Learn more about Senator Gutierrez at https://senate.texas.gov/member.php?d=19.
Thank you for listening! Learn more about how to support Progress Texas and our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The families of the Robb Elementary shooting victims have announced a $2 million settlement with the City of Uvalde, and a series of lawsuits against involved law enforcement, including Texas DPS officers: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/uvalde-school-shooting-settlement-texas-city-lawsuits/
...Progress Texas provides an update in advance of tomorrow's second anniversary of that horrible day in Uvalde: https://progresstexas.org/blog/what-has-changed-uvalde%C2%A0
The Texas Republican Party Convention begins today in San Antonio, amidst bitter internal struggles over ideology and policy: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/05/23/texas-republicans-gather-for-convention-amid-struggle-over-partys-future/
...The state GOP is moving towards closed primaries: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/republican-party-of-texas-advances-rule-to-close-primaries-convention-vote-friday
The ACLU of Texas has released a report that counters many of Governor Abbott's stated reasons for spending over $11 billion on Operation Lone Star: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/special-reports/at-the-border/texas-aclu-critcizes-operation-lone-star-governor-greg-abbott/269-00ca4525-fad4-4f9b-9bd2-24b9147ad203
A well-known anti-abortion doctor has been appointed to the state's maternal morbidity committee, where she will have an influence over information regarding crisis pregnancies and related deaths in Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/22/texas-maternal-mortality-committee-ingrid-skop-abortion-doctor/
Early voting in the primary runoff is underway NOW and continues through Friday: https://govotetexas.org/
Progress Texas could use your help in funding our trip to June's Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - thanks in advance! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Another pregnant Texan in a traumatic miscarraige situation is denied care by doctors, eventually fainting to her bathroom floor from blood loss: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/texas-nightmare-miscarriage-abortion-ban-b2549017.html
Ken Paxton files his 75th lawsuit against the Biden administration, this one against workplace protections for LGBTQ+ Texans: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/21/paxton-biden-eeoc-gender-identity-lawsuit/
The Dade Phelan/David Covey race to represent Beaumont in the Texas House has become a very expensive runoff main event: https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/south-texas-el-paso/news/2024/05/21/early-voting-begins-with-future-of-texas-house-in-balance
...Gambling magnates on one side, Christian Nationalist crusaders on the other: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/21/dade-phelan-miriam-adelson-casino-runoff-primary/
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick joins the GOP clown show at the Trump trial in New York: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/dan-patrick-donald-trump-hush-money-trial/3547236/
...Claims Trump is being targeted by "the ruling class", as opposed to being a poster child for it: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dan-patrick-trump-is-not-ruling-class_n_664ce46ee4b09c97de219dbb
Ted Cruz forgets his reputation for fleeing the country in bad weather, gets roasted over Houston: https://newrepublic.com/post/181779/ted-cruz-gets-roasted-post-texas-storm
...While as of yesterday, 100,000 Houstonians were still without power: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/over-226000-customers-still-without-power-after-storms-texas-2024-05-20/
...And wild weather in Texas is driving YOUR insurance costs through the roof (until it's blown off): https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/outrageous-texans-face-insurance-spikes-amid-natural-disasters/
...While ERCOT considers "smart meter" technology to helpfully turn your AC off in a power pinch: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/ercot-first-innovation-summit-2024/269-69947dd0-a319-471a-b32d-d80c1828a492
Early voting in the primary runoff is underway NOW and continues through Friday: https://govotetexas.org/
Progress Texas could use your help in funding our trip to June's Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - thanks in advance! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The anticipated public forum held by the Texas Medical Board seeking to clarify rules governing abortion access exceptions in Texas did little but increase confusion: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/20/texas-medical-board-abortion-guidance/
...Among those testifying was Kate Cox: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/kate-cox-tells-texas-medical-board-newly-proposed-rules-wont-help-clarify-abortion-law/287-4d342554-38fc-4e5c-a425-8e494289de39
...And Progress Texas staffers Tatum Owens and Reagan Stone: https://progresstexas.org/blog/lack-guidance-medical-emergencies-puts-texan-lives-line
Texas A&M's administrator of Title IX finds himself suspended for the offense of speaking in compliance with new federal guidelines, while his bosses plan to defy the feds: https://theeagle.com/news/a_m/tamu-system-title-ix-director-suspended-investigated/article_a75aa62c-146c-11ef-9617-eb4a3d655faf.html
Cypress Fairfield school board members have voted to redact science textbook content that hurts their feelings: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/19/us-public-schools-texas-book-bans
As another historically hot summer builds, so do risks of an "avoidable blackout" in Texas: https://www.forbes.com/sites/arielcohen/2024/05/19/texas-is-heading-towards-an-avoidable-blackoutagain/
Texas provides an early example of the overall erosion of American democracy: https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/texas-abbott-pardon-murderer-blm-protester-20240519.html
Early voting starts TODAY and continues through Friday in the primary runoff: https://govotetexas.org/
Progress Texas could use your help in funding our trip to June's Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - thanks in advance! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The NRA Convention in Dallas saw heavy emphasis on voter activation among firearms enthusiasts: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/18/texas-nra-convention-trump-abbott-guns/
...In his remarks, Donald Trump toyed with the notion of becoming a three-term President: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/19/trump-nra-convention-dallas
...A photo essay from the event: https://www.reuters.com/pictures/scenes-inside-annual-nra-convention-2024-05-19/
...Right on cue, Amarillo judge Matthew Kascmaryk has temporarily blocked the new federal "gun show loophole" rule: https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-judge-blocks-biden-backed-030843345.html
Let's get past the spectacle of the tangle between U.S. Reps Jasmine Crockett and Marjorie Taylor Greene, and note the purely racist nature of Greene's comments: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/05/19/jasmine-crockett-mtg-racist-house-exchange/73760251007/
Governor Abbott appears to not only approve of convicted murderer Daniel Perry shooting BLM protestor Garrett Foster, he's also okay with his sexually inappropriate messages to a 16 year old: https://www.texasobserver.org/abbott-pardon-daniel-perry-garrett-foster/
...While the doubt that Foster pointed his gun at Perry prior to the shooting sets a very loose precedent for the establishment of a lethal threat, and a lethal response to that threat: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/greg-abbott-daniel-perry-pardon-rcna152769
Early voting starts TODAY and continues through Friday in the primary runoff: https://govotetexas.org/
Progress Texas could use your help in funding our trip to June's Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - thanks in advance! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
In a stunning conservative undermining of our state's criminal justice system, Governor Abbott has issued a full pardon for Daniel Perry, convicted last year of murdering Black Lives Matter protester and U.S. Air Force veteran Garrett Foster in Austin: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/texas-governor-pardons-uber-driver-convicted-murdering-black-lives-matter-2024-05-16/
...Multiple reactions from progressive sources: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/16/daniel-perry-greg-abbott-pardon/
Gun violence has skyrocketed 63% in Texas under Governor Abbott's watch: https://giffords.org/analysis/texas-gun-deaths-surged-63-under-greg-abbott/
No surprise that three quarters of Texans think our state government has chosen an "extreme conservative agenda" over practical matters: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4667534-texas-poll-conservative-agenda/
A public forum will be held on May 20 by the Texas Medical Board on proposed exceptions to Texas' near-total ban on abortion: https://x.com/hannahnorton89/status/1785054901661216800?s=12&t=Bt_w1MN2AlTfFkWGHJiOJg
Progress Texas could use your help in funding our trip to June's Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - thanks in advance! https://progresstexas.org/donate
It will soon be time to vote in the May 28 primary runoffs! https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/26/texas-voting-2024-runoff-elections/
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Last week, Progress Texas hosted our first ever Climate Justice Town Hall, where we discussed liquified natural gas (LNG) operations in Texas and the major health risks, environmental damages and harms to indigenous and lower income communities that have fallen victim to Big Oil and Gas’ commitment to profits over people.
We learned a great deal from our experienced panelists: John Beard, CEO of Port Arthur Community Action Network, Elida Castillo, Texas Director of Chispa Texas, Emma Guevara, Brownsville Organizer of Sierra Club and Naomi Yoder, GIS Data Manager for The Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice, hosted by Progress Texas Advocacy Manager Reagan Stone.
Learn more:
Port Arthur Community Action Network: https://www.pa-can.com/
Chispa Texas: https://chispatx.org/
Sierra Club - Lone Star Chapter: https://www.sierraclub.org/texas
Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice: https://www.bullardcenter.org/
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and support our ongoing mission at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Speaking at a tax-exempt (and thus presumably politically neutral) Houston church, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick espoused his view that Christianity should underpin Texas law: https://www.chron.com/culture/religion/article/dan-patrick-sermon-second-baptist-19455537.php
Governor Greg Abbott appears to have fallen off the VP radar of Donald Trump: https://www.fox7austin.com/news/greg-abbott-donald-trump-vp-candidate-list-discussion
Heat builds around the discovery that Texas tax dollars may have been sent to Colorado charter schools founded by state-installed Houston ISD superintendent Mike Miles: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/14/hisd-mike-miles-tea-investigation/
Pioneering civil rights leader Rev. William "Bill" Lawson of Houston has died at 95: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/rev-william-lawson-texas-civil-rights-leader-dies/3541007/
PROGRAM NOTE - Chris is attending a family memorial service on Thursday, and the Daily Dispatch will take a rare break that day. Next update will be posted on Friday morning.
A public forum will be held on May 20 by the Texas Medical Board on proposed exceptions to Texas' near-total ban on abortion: https://x.com/hannahnorton89/status/1785054901661216800?s=12&t=Bt_w1MN2AlTfFkWGHJiOJg
Progress Texas could use your help in funding our trip to June's Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - thanks in advance! https://progresstexas.org/donate
It will soon be time to vote in the May 28 primary runoffs! https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/26/texas-voting-2024-runoff-elections/
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Even as school districts across Texas are forced to cut jobs and close campuses under budget shortfalls, Governor Abbott continues to hold funding hostage to vouchers: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2024/05/13/texas-must-help-struggling-schools-with-special-session-on-funding-dems-say-to-abbott/
...While Spectrum journalists discover that public school dollars have been subsidizing charter schools in Colorado - schools founded by current Houston ISD superintendent Mike Miles: https://twitter.com/HOUmanitarian/status/1790174747579318723
People who can become pregnant, should they do so, now risk second-class citizenship to their male partners AND the resulting embryo: https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/4659427-texass-handmaids-tale-gives-everyone-but-women-reproductive-control/
...While an Alabama-style IVF crisis in Texas is threatened by a Denton divorce case: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/13/texas-supreme-court-frozen-embryos-ivf/
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar's legal hotseat gets hotter as a third co-conspirator pleads guilty: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/13/henry-cuellar-irada-akhoundova-guilty-plea/
Elon Musk's SpaceX company has not been paying its bills, racking up dozens of liens filed by creditors: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/spacex-overdue-bills-texas-19454904.php
A public forum will be held on May 20 by the Texas Medical Board on proposed exceptions to Texas' near-total ban on abortion: https://x.com/hannahnorton89/status/1785054901661216800?s=12&t=Bt_w1MN2AlTfFkWGHJiOJg
Progress Texas could use your help in funding our trip to June's Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - thanks in advance! https://progresstexas.org/donate
It will soon be time to vote in the May 28 primary runoffs! https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/26/texas-voting-2024-runoff-elections/
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick told a Christian talk show this weekend that he thinks Christian theology should provide the basis of government in Texas: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/05/13/lt-gov-dan-patrick-says-christianity-is-needed-more-than-ever-in-texas-politics/
Houston-area U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls is under investigation by the U.S. House Ethics Committee for apparantly paying himself rent from his campaign funds: https://www.khou.com/article/news/politics/national-politics/rep-troy-nehls-ethics-campaign-funds/285-f04829af-59d1-4635-80b2-5b0a9160f409
An 18-year UT Austin instructor has been arrested and fired over his participation in pro-Palestinian protests on that campus last month: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/10/texas-ut-lecturer-arrested-fired-palestinian-demonstration/
...Another protest followed Saturday night's commencement exercise at UT: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/education/graduation/2024/05/12/university-of-texas-graduation-ceremony-followed-by-pro-palestine-protest-calling-for-ut-divestment/73611801007/
Steven Monacelli exposes a scheme by a Collin County school district to establish its own voucher program: https://x.com/stevanzetti/status/1788021731434623001?t=9V-Y0Wfp-8B3NyBMwGXpkg&s=03
...The elaborate details: https://christackett.substack.com/p/the-complex-voucher-scheme
The tiny Panhandle town of Clarendon's City Council has unanimously rejected a proposed abortion travel ban: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/10/texas-panhandle-abortion-travel/
For the second year running, Texas leads Forbes' ranking of the worst states in the U.S. for mental health care: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/health-insurance/worst-states-for-mental-health-care/
A public forum will be held on May 20 by the Texas Medical Board on proposed exceptions to Texas' near-total ban on abortion: https://x.com/hannahnorton89/status/1785054901661216800?s=12&t=Bt_w1MN2AlTfFkWGHJiOJg
Progress Texas could use your help in funding our trip to June's Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - thanks in advance! https://progresstexas.org/donate
It will soon be time to vote in the May 28 primary runoffs! https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/26/texas-voting-2024-runoff-elections/
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Two former consultants for Laredo U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar appear ready to testify against him and his wife on federal corruption charges: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/09/henry-cuellar-political-consultants-plea-deal-guilty/
Republican U.S. Reps Ronny Jackson of Amarillo and Wesley Hunt of Houston are both under investigation by the House Ethics Committee: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/05/09/ethics-committee-investigating-us-reps-ronny-jackson-wesley-hunt-from-texas/
The law does not appear to back new efforts by anti-abortion crusading lawyer Jonathan Mitchell's new targeting of women who have terminated pregnancies out of state - for now: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/10/texas-courts-abortion-jonathan-mitchell/
The Texas Senate Subcommittee on Higher Education is set to discuss campus free speech, DEI and alleged anti-Semitism during recent pro-Palestinian protests on Tuesday: https://cbsaustin.com/news/alexa/texas-senate-panel-to-discuss-campus-free-speech-following-ut-protests
ERCOT predicts that new power demands will require a doubling of the capacity of the already-stressed Texas power grid over the next decade: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/politics/lone-star-politics/texas-needs-energy-for-evs-crypto-datamining/3536718/
A public forum will be held on May 20 by the Texas Medical Board on proposed exceptions to Texas' near-total ban on abortion: https://x.com/hannahnorton89/status/1785054901661216800?s=12&t=Bt_w1MN2AlTfFkWGHJiOJg
Progress Texas could use your help in funding our trip to June's Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - thanks in advance! https://progresstexas.org/donate
It will soon be time to vote in the May 28 primary runoffs! https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/26/texas-voting-2024-runoff-elections/
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Governor Greg Abbott has extended his orders to the TEA to defy new Federal guidelines on Title IX protecting LGBTQ students to administrators of state universities: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/greg-abbott-texas-universities-ignore-title-ix-revisions/3536397/
...As Carroll ISD is asked by the U.S. Department of Education to address four claims by students about racial and homophobic harrassment endured in its schools: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/southlake-texas-carroll-isd-civil-rights-investigation-rcna151009
That "weather watch" from ERCOT yesterday helped spur a massive spike in power prices last night: https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2024-05-08/summer-power-prices-seen-surging-for-texas-falling-in-california
The GOP runoff between incumbent U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales and his primary challenger "The A.K. Guy" presents possible headaches for Republican leadership: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/07/tony-gonzales-inter-gop-fight-texas-00156073
Steven Monacelli at the Texas Observer writes on the "Remnant Alliance", a new effort by Christian Nationalist groups to take over Texas school boards: https://www.texasobserver.org/christian-schoolboards-education-k12/
Joe Jaworski writes in the Dallas Morning News on the near-complete takeover of Texas' state government by a small group of billionaires: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2024/05/09/billionaires-are-running-texas-now/
TODAY! Thursday May 9 at 12 noon, join us for our "Burning Issues" town hall on liquid natural gas (LNG) pollution in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-hosts-climate-justice-town-hall
Also for your calendar: a public forum will be held on May 20 by the Texas Medical Board on proposed exceptions to Texas' near-total ban on abortion: https://x.com/hannahnorton89/status/1785054901661216800?s=12&t=Bt_w1MN2AlTfFkWGHJiOJg
Progress Texas could use your help in funding our trip to June's Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - thanks in advance! https://progresstexas.org/donate
It will soon be time to vote in the May 28 primary runoffs! https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/26/texas-voting-2024-runoff-elections/
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
New legal tactics allowing people who have sought abortion care out of state to be dragged into court increase the risks of engaging in sexual activity: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/5/7/2239233/-Texas-finds-new-way-to-punish-and-humiliate-anyone-who-tries-to-get-an-abortion
ERCOT issues a "weather watch" due to hot weather and their own apparant failure to plan for ever hotter springs and summers: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/ercot-issues-weather-watch-for-wednesday-expects-unseasonably-high-temperatures/
...While renewable energy passes 30% of global electricity generation for the first time: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/08/renewable-energy-passes-30-of-worlds-electricity-supply
A new federal investigation of Katy ISD over their transgender policies has been announced: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/08/katy-isd-lgbtq-policy-investigation/
...While Ken Paxton threatens Austin over a new City policy deprioritizing pursuit of cases involving transgender care for young Austinites: https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/south-texas-el-paso/news/2024/05/07/texas-attorney-general-threatens-legal-action-against-city-of-austin
UT Dallas professor Ben Wright writes on his experience after being arrested during a pro-Palestinian protest on that campus last week: https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2024/05/what-my-students-and-i-learned-in-jail-after-protesting-on-the-ut-dallas-campus/
Tomorrow! Thursday May 9 at 12 noon, join us for our "Burning Issues" town hall on liquid natural gas (LNG) pollution in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-hosts-climate-justice-town-hall
Also for your calendar: a public forum will be held on May 20 by the Texas Medical Board on proposed exceptions to Texas' near-total ban on abortion: https://x.com/hannahnorton89/status/1785054901661216800?s=12&t=Bt_w1MN2AlTfFkWGHJiOJg
Progress Texas could use your help in funding our trip to June's Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - thanks in advance! https://progresstexas.org/donate
It will soon be time to vote in the May 28 primary runoffs! https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/26/texas-voting-2024-runoff-elections/
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A new attempt to legally target a Texas woman who sought abortion care in Colorado represents a new effort by abortion rights opponents to frighten Texans away from exercising their reproductive rights: https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/05/us/texas-abortion-collin-davis-colorado/index.html
...It remains LEGAL to seek abortion care out of state: https://www.jezebel.com/texas-man-is-trying-to-sue-ex-partner-for-wrongful-death-over-alleged-abortion
...Colorado in particular has its own shield law protecting people who seek reproductive care there: https://www.cpr.org/2024/05/07/texas-woman-abortion-in-colorado-ex-legal-battle-state-shield-might-stand-in-way/
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar's current legal troubles frustrate progressives who've opposed him for years: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/03/henry-cuellar-indictment-political-impact/
...Donald Trump sees a common cause in Cuellar's dilemma: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13388247/Trump-Texas-Henry-Cuellar-bribes-FBI.html
The current oil and gas boom has proven a windfall for GOP officeholders friendly to polluters: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/07/texas-oil-gas-political-donations-august-pfluger/
Renewable sources, in contrast, tend to support Democrats - and a major new solar installation has just come online near Del Rio: https://solarquarter.com/2024/05/07/cypress-creek-renewables-completes-texas-largest-hybrid-solar-facility/
Congratulations to the Texas Tribune, who have been named a Pulitzer finalist for the first time: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/06/texas-tribune-pulitzer-prize-finalist/
Mark your calendar for May 9 at 12 noon for our "Burning Issues" town hall on liquid natural gas (LNG) pollution in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-hosts-climate-justice-town-hall
Also for your calendar: a public forum will be held on May 20 by the Texas Medical Board on proposed exceptions to Texas' near-total ban on abortion: https://x.com/hannahnorton89/status/1785054901661216800?s=12&t=Bt_w1MN2AlTfFkWGHJiOJg
Progress Texas could use your help in funding our trip to June's Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - thanks in advance! https://progresstexas.org/donate
It will soon be time to vote in the May 28 primary runoffs! https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/26/texas-voting-2024-runoff-elections/
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Democratically-backed candidates for newly-created oversight positions with county tax appraisal did well in Saturday's election in Dallas County: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/politics/lone-star-politics/texas-voters-elect-appraisal-board-members-denton-dallas-tarrant/3533277/
...And in Travis County: https://www.kut.org/politics/2024-05-05/austin-travis-county-property-taxes-tcad-may-4-2024-election-results
...Molly Cook, featured on our podcast recorded at March's Unified Jam in Austin, won Saturday's special election to serve out the rest of John Whitmire's term, becoming the first openly LGBTQ Texas Senator: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/houston-whitmire-senate-seat-19437490.php
Another pro-Palestinian protest at UT Austin on Sunday sees a heavy police presence but no arrests: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/ut-austin-palestine-protest-19432066.php
...While at the Texas State Capitol, the Central Texas Jewish community rallied for Jewish college students nationwide: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/local/2024/05/05/shalom-austin-iac-walk-texas-capitol-jewish-israel-palestine-conflict-protest/73579217007/
Fort Worth's Opal Lee, the 97-year-old "Grandmother of Juneteenth", received the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Friday: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/biden-opal-lee-presidential-medal-of-freedom-ceremony-grandmother-of-juneteenth/
Mark your calendar for May 9 at 12 noon for our "Burning Issues" town hall on liquid natural gas (LNG) pollution in Texas: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/townhall_24
Also for your calendar: a public forum will be held on May 20 by the Texas Medical Board on proposed exceptions to Texas' near-total ban on abortion: https://x.com/hannahnorton89/status/1785054901661216800?s=12&t=Bt_w1MN2AlTfFkWGHJiOJg
Progress Texas could use your help in funding our trip to June's Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - thanks in advance! https://progresstexas.org/donate
It will soon be time to vote in the May 28 primary runoffs! https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/26/texas-voting-2024-runoff-elections/
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Tomorrow, Saturday May 4, is Election Day for important municipal ballot items:
Our bigger cities and counties have new oversight positions over tax appraisal districts to vote on: https://progresstexas.org/blog/why-you-should-care-about-may-appraisal-district-elections
...In Lubbock, local cannabis decriminalization is on the ballot: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/02/lubbock-texas-marijuana-election/
A UT Arlington lecturer was arrested yesterday after testing the rules against tents: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/pro-palestinian-protestors-set-up-encampment-university-of-texas-arlington/287-72249ae5-2b52-45a2-bbae-7b74ad5aad95
...At UT Austin, claims by administrators of weapons and violence on the part of protestors is found highly doubtful by Travis County Judge Delia Garza: https://www.kut.org/crime-justice/2024-05-02/ut-says-pro-palestinian-demonstrators-carried-guns-and-assaulted-people-prosecutors-beg-to-differ
...Over 600 UT Austin faculty members have signed a letter expressing no confidence in president Jay Hartzell: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/education/university-of-texas/ut-no-confidence-president-hartzell/269-b1b50674-33ad-4db7-ab85-6ef47322aa59
Mark your calendar for May 9 at 12 noon for our "Burning Issues" town hall on liquid natural gas (LNG) pollution in Texas: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/townhall_24
Also for your calendar: a public forum will be held on May 20 by the Texas Medical Board on proposed exceptions to Texas' near-total ban on abortion: https://x.com/hannahnorton89/status/1785054901661216800?s=12&t=Bt_w1MN2AlTfFkWGHJiOJg
Progress Texas could use your help in funding our trip to June's Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - thanks in advance! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Early voting in the May 4 municipal elections ends today! https://progresstexas.org/blog/why-you-should-care-about-may-appraisal-district-elections
...And it will soon be time to vote in the May 28 primary runoffs! https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/26/texas-voting-2024-runoff-elections/
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
That new ATF rule requiring more background checks for gun purchases has been targeted by the state in a lawsuit: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-ken-paxton-sue-rule-background-check-private-gun-sale/3529691/
Police arrested 21 pro-Palestinian protestors at UT Dallas yesterday in what's become a familiar scene across the country: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/gaza-protest-encampment-university-texas-dallas/
...The companies that protestors are demanding the UT System to divest from represent only about 1% of its total holdings: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/university-texas-system-investments-several-companies-with-ties-israel/287-dec3727c-d93a-4bda-8ae1-558c3682675f
...UT professor Jeremy Suri notes that conservative aggression towards college culture has exacerbated tensions during the recent protests: https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/29/opinions/campus-protests-university-of-texas-israel-gaza-suri/index.html
A sitting member of the Federal Elections Commission, in charge of the complaint against Ted Cruz that his campaign is improperly profiting from his podcast, has a Ted Cruz campaign sign in his front yard: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/federal-elections-regulator-from-texas-has-ted-cruz-campaign-sign-in-front-yard/ar-AA1nZWTT?ocid=BingNews
Bitcoin company Riot Platforms says they're set to make a bundle again this summer selling power back to the Texas power grid at a profit: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-05-01/bitcoin-miner-riot-riot-eyes-selling-power-in-texas-as-summer-nears
Elon Musk "borrows" the phrase "Don't Mess With Texas" for a cheesy Tesla belt buckle: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/elon-musk-dont-mess-texas-19429328.php
Mark your calendar for May 9 at 12 noon for our "Burning Issues" town hall on liquid natural gas (LNG) pollution in Texas: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/townhall_24
Also for your calendar: a public forum will be held on May 20 by the Texas Medical Board on proposed exceptions to Texas' near-total ban on abortion: https://x.com/hannahnorton89/status/1785054901661216800?s=12&t=Bt_w1MN2AlTfFkWGHJiOJg
Progress Texas could use your help in funding our trip to June's Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - thanks in advance! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Early voting in the May 4 municipal elections ends today! https://progresstexas.org/blog/why-you-should-care-about-may-appraisal-district-elections
...And it will soon be time to vote in the May 28 primary runoffs! https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/26/texas-voting-2024-runoff-elections/
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Welcome to the first of a monthly series of six discussions of reproductive freedom in Texas - the Republican trampling of that freedom, the dire threat that denial of basic human rights poses to women and pregnant people across our state, where the GOP is likely to go next should they gain power in November - and what YOU can do to stop them.
Dallas State Rep. Julie Johnson - a Progress Texas endorsee in her outright primary win in her run for the U.S. House, can be found at https://juliejohnson.com/.
Second-term Austin City Council Member Paige Ellis can be found at https://www.austintexas.gov/department/district-8.
Democratic nominee for U.S. House District 8 Laura Jones can be found at https://www.laura4tx.com/.
There are many ways to join the fight to restore reproductive justice in Texas! Learn more at http://roevolution.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
15 pro-Palestinian organizations have called for another protest today at UT Austin - could be the biggest crowd yet: https://youtu.be/9esCRGZWNJg?si=fxsazmgTnaDRgp6s
...Travis County DA Delia Garza pipes up that protest arrests are clogging the County's criminal justice system - and that the crackdowns are likely inviting more unrest: https://www.aol.com/news/ut-austin-palestine-protest-travis-182653693.html
The DEA is moving to reduce the criminality of marijuana - what's that mean in Texas? https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/dea-to-reclassify-marijuana-what-it-means-for-dallas-texas-19254961
...Texas seems likely to move to keep pot as illegal as possible: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/texas-governor-condemns-local-marijuana-decriminalization-efforts-as-lubbock-voters-decide-on-reform-at-the-ballot/
ERCOT and the PUC are threatening energy reliability in Texas via their foot-dragging on infrastructure development: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2024/05/01/the-power-grid-puts-texas-growth-at-risk-again/
...All while battery tech costs are at an all-time low: https://www.techspot.com/news/102786-battery-cost-plunge-turbocharge-renewable-energy-shift-iea.html
Ken Paxton, rather than doing his job, has been hanging around Donald Trump's criminal trial in New York: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/donald-trump-trial-ken-paxton-19430568.php
Ted Cruz's idea to provide unpopular politicians like himself taxpayer-funded airport security has been kicked to the curb: https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/4628183-cruz-amendmentfaa-reauthorization-special-security/
...And Ted's got a new idea: making it harder to get your money back from an airline after they've cancelled your flight: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/ted-cruz-airlines-automatic-refunds-faa-reauthorization-1235012248/
Owing to Texas' proliferation of guns, Houston ranks as the top American city for road rage deaths in the country, by a long shot: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/transportation/article/houston-road-rage-incidents-19428481.php
Mark your calendar for May 9 at 12 noon for our "Burning Issues" town hall on liquid natural gas (LNG) pollution in Texas: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/townhall_24
Also for your calendar: a public forum will be held on May 20 by the Texas Medical Board on proposed exceptions to Texas' near-total ban on abortion: https://x.com/hannahnorton89/status/1785054901661216800?s=12&t=Bt_w1MN2AlTfFkWGHJiOJg
Progress Texas could use your help in funding our trip to June's Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - thanks in advance! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Early voting in the May 4 municipal elections ends today! https://progresstexas.org/blog/why-you-should-care-about-may-appraisal-district-elections
...And it will soon be time to vote in the May 28 primary runoffs! https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/26/texas-voting-2024-runoff-elections/
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Law enforcement ratcheted up the rough treatment of protestors being arrested at UT Austin on Monday: https://www.kut.org/education/2024-04-29/ut-austin-protest-israel-hamas-war-palestinians
...Students harangued law enforcement about their failure at Uvalde: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/texas-students-protesting-war-gaza-question-troopers-failed-uvalde-response_n_662ffbe9e4b0eb5fda512ea5
...A Slate writer provides a first-person account of Monday's melee: https://slate.com/human-interest/2024/04/protests-columbia-ut-texas-austin-student-arrest.html
...Meanwhile administrators at Texas State University in San Marcos showed restraint, and thus its similar protest remained peaceful: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/student-protests-at-texas-state-and-ut-austin-differed-greatly-from-one-another
...All of this lays bare the hypocrisy Republican leaders and UT administrators are displaying in choosing which free speech to tolerate, and which to crush: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/29/ut-austin-pro-palestinian-demonstrations-free-speech/
Meanwhile, Governor Abbott and AG Ken Paxton are taking steps to resist new federal orders that LGBTQ students should be protected under Title IX from sexual discrimination: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/04/29/gov-greg-abbott-orders-texas-schools-to-defy-federal-nondiscrimination-rules/
A brave op-ed in the Nacogdoches County Daily Sentinel points out Governor Abbott's duplicity regarding a male teacher in Lewisville targeted for wearing a dress to school as a joke: https://www.dailysentinel.com/opinion/columns/greg-abbott-redefines-bully-pulpit/article_55ffd681-cfc7-51cf-89e1-686fe27c6b1d.html
Democratic Texas Railroad Commission nominee Katherine Culbert responds to reports of new permits being granted for oil producers to dump toxic produced water into Texas rivers and streams: https://www.facebook.com/Katherine4Texas
A public forum will be held on May 20 by the Texas Medical Board on proposed exceptions to Texas' near-total ban on abortion: https://x.com/hannahnorton89/status/1785054901661216800?s=12&t=Bt_w1MN2AlTfFkWGHJiOJg
Progress Texas could use your help in funding our trip to June's Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso - thanks in advance! https://progresstexas.org/donate
Early voting in the May 4 municipal elections ends today! https://progresstexas.org/blog/why-you-should-care-about-may-appraisal-district-elections
...And it will soon be time to vote in the May 28 primary runoffs! https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/26/texas-voting-2024-runoff-elections/
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Austin Rep. Gina Hinojosa on WFAA's Inside Texas Politics: https://youtu.be/S471DfitaQk?si=70WK-VmY5gW4Ccen
The state is now issuing permits for oil producers to dump millions of gallons of toxic "produced water" into Texas rivers and streams: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/29/texas-treated-produced-water-disposal-discharge-rivers/
...New satellite studies show the ground itself in the Permian Basin sinking and rising with oil extraction and wastewater injection: https://www.wsj.com/business/energy-oil/in-americas-biggest-oil-field-the-ground-is-swelling-and-buckling-9d66eb42
...And ERCOT renews its argument against renewable energy: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/ercot-grid-failure-renewable-19416583.php
A federal judge has once again rejected the claim of Texas that our immigration situation at the border constitutes an "invasion": https://reason.com/volokh/2024/04/28/federal-court-again-rules-against-texas-claim-that-illegal-migration-qualifies-as-invasion/
Texas DPS is considering a criminal investigation of that news cameraman they arrested during last week's police crackdown on protestors at UT Austin: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/26/ut-austin-arrest-fox-7-photojournalist/
A letter to the editor of the Houston Chronicle reminds those thinking of sitting out the November election in protest over Gaza of the dire potential results: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/letters/article/gaza-palestine-protest-university-students-ut-19422782.php
West Texas oil billionaire and Christian Nationalist activist Tim Dunn argues that he shouldn't be considered a Christian Nationalist: https://midlandtimes.com/stories/658009552-opinion-the-christian-nationalist-label-will-not-stick
Hard-right Republican lawmakers are putting forth a 12-point plan to neutralize Democratic influence in the House and consolidate control for themselves: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/contract-with-texas-house-republicans/
Early voting in the May 4 municipal elections ends tomorrow! https://progresstexas.org/blog/why-you-should-care-about-may-appraisal-district-elections
...And it will soon be time to vote in the May 28 primary runoffs! https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/26/texas-voting-2024-runoff-elections/
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Travis County Attorney Delia Garza's office will not prosecute any of the 46 trespassing cases resulting from Wednesday's police crackdown at UT Austin: https://thehill.com/homenews/4622384-texas-prosecutor-appeals-ruling-that-tossed-crystal-masons-voting-fraud-conviction/
...UT president Jay Hartzell releases a second statement: https://www.reddit.com/r/UTAustin/s/dbZOyovi3n
...Similar scenes have unfolded at college campuses across the country: https://www.npr.org/2024/04/25/1247091785/campus-protests-gaza-israel-arrests-usc-emerson-texas
...Progress Texas' statement: https://progresstexas.org/blog/abbott-tramples-our-american-freedoms-speech-and-assembly
...FIRE's statement: https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/fire-letter-university-texas-austin-april-25-2024
Governor Abbott has chosen the relatively-moderate U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzalez over his primary runoff challenger, "the A.K. Guy": https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4620838-texas-governor-abbott-backlash-mass-arrest-ut-austin-pro-palestine-protest/
Outgoing (thankfully) Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg has teamed up with Ken Paxton to allow his office to pursue an investigation against three staffers of Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/hidalgo-staffers-elevate-strategies-paxton-ogg-19422060.php
Not outgoing (unfortunately) Tarrant County District Attorney Phil Sorrells wants to reverse the recent acquittal of Crystal Mason on voter fraud charges from the 2016 election: https://thehill.com/homenews/4622384-texas-prosecutor-appeals-ruling-that-tossed-crystal-masons-voting-fraud-conviction/
Don't forget to vote! Early voting for new oversight positions over local tax apprasal districts started yesterday: https://progresstexas.org/blog/why-you-should-care-about-may-appraisal-district-elections
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
The week started badly enough - with small-town Republicans taking advantage of a newly-modified state law that allowed them to threaten to replace popular Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza with a stooge of their choosing. Then it got worse, with a dramatic overplay of police force as administrators at UT Austin called in militarized DPS troopers to crush a pro-Palestinian protest. What do these attacks on small-D democracy by Greg Abbott's regime mean, both individually and as two parts of a growing trend of authoritarianism in Texas? We're joined by three of our favorite thinkers in this area: State Senator Sarah Eckhardt of Austin, renowned civil rights attorney Austin Kaplan, and MOVE Texas Senior Advocacy Reform Manager Amber Mills - what's REALLY going on behind the GOP curtain will shock and anger you - and hopefully, reinvigorate your passion for the fight ahead.
Learn more about State Senator Sarah Eckhardt at https://www.saraheckhardt.com/.
Learn more about Austin Kaplan at https://kaplanlawatx.com/team/austin-kaplan/.
Learn more about Amber Mills and MOVE Texas at https://movetexas.org/staff/amber-mills/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and support our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Developments continue in the aftermath of the violent police stampout of a pro-Palestinian protest at UT Austin: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/local/2024/04/24/ut-austin-campus-student-protest-arrest-pro-palestine-protests-walk-out/73425149007/
...Governor Abbott stands by the crackdown: https://www.chron.com/news/article/greg-abbott-ut-protests-19420650.php
...Reactions abound: https://twitter.com/ProgressTX
An on-campus shooting in Arlington yesterday: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2024/04/25/arlington-school-shooting-bowie/
Don't forget to vote! Early voting for new oversight positions over local tax apprasal districts started yesterday: https://progresstexas.org/blog/why-you-should-care-about-may-appraisal-district-elections
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The new law that has allowed an attempt by rural Republicans to oust Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza makes ALL DA's across the state vulnerable in the same way: https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2024/04/why-is-someone-suing-to-get-travis-county-da-jose-garza-out-of-office-and-what-comes-next/
Ted Cruz stuck with a small minority in the U.S. Senate voting against foreign aid for Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine: https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/23/politics/senate-vote-israel-ukraine-aid-dg/index.html
...While the kerfluffle over Cruz's podcast proceeds smells of tax problems: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/ted-cruz-iheart-podcast-taxes-19416633.php
Hardline GOP types appear to like the idea of targeting transgender teachers in the 2025 legislative session: https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/greg-abbott-texas-drag-teachers-19418755.php
Other hardline GOP types in the U.S. House are criticizing House Speaker Mike Johnson for campaigning with Rep. Tony Gonzalez, who recently referred to his MAGA colleagues as "real scumbags": https://nypost.com/2024/04/23/us-news/republicans-fume-over-house-speakers-fundraiser-for-turncoat-texas-rep-who-called-far-right-lawmakers-scumbags/
Researchers at the notoriously liberal Texas A&M have released dire climate predictions for Texas: https://www.kvue.com/article/tech/science/climate-science/texas-hotter-wildfires-climatology-report/269-483d3038-e623-406b-b0e3-b322c0766d35
Has ERCOT seen the light? They suggest it's time for Texas to "adapt and plan differently": https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/ercot-says-texas-needs-to-adapt-and-plan-differently-to-meet-future-energy-demand
Don't forget to vote! Early voting for new oversight positions over local tax apprasal districts started yesterday: https://progresstexas.org/blog/why-you-should-care-about-may-appraisal-district-elections
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Elected Democratic leaders are decrying Republican efforts to remove Travis County DA Jose Garza: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/local/2024/04/22/lloyd-doggett-rogue-prosecutor-travis-county-district-attorney-da-jose-garza-texas-democrats/73412765007/?utm_source=statesman-newsalert-strada&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_term=Hero&utm_content=naas-austin-nletter01
Ken Paxton calls off his quest against Seattle Children's Hospital over its care for transgender youth - but succeeds in driving them from Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/22/texas-trans-health-care-investigation-seattle/
A vandalism attack on the office of Republican Rep. John Carter in Georgetown is providing lots of online ammo AGAINST the cause of Gaza peace: https://www.fox7austin.com/video/1445040
Volkswagen auto workers in Chattanooga become the first Southern group to win their union - despite the opposition of Governor Greg Abbott: https://thehill.com/business/4599535-southern-governors-joining-uaw-would-threaten-jobs-values/amp/
The president of the Grapevine Colleyville School Board, attempting to hide her past QAnon posts, called in a false police report, later retracting it: https://x.com/stevanzetti/status/1782410513785160157
Don't forget to vote! Early voting for new oversight positions over local tax apprasal districts started yesterday: https://progresstexas.org/blog/why-you-should-care-about-may-appraisal-district-elections
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texas mom and reproductive rights activist Amanda Zurawski is on the trail with the Biden/Harris campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdBwynnn9HE
Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza has been targeted for removal under a new state law by Comal and Bell County Republicans: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/20/texas-rogue-prosecutors-law-jose-garza-removal-attempt/
...All as Ken Paxton is seeking to assert state prosecutorial authority into local matters: https://www.statesman.com/story/opinion/editorials/2024/04/17/ken-paxton-texas-attorney-general-proposal-plan-extend-reach-local-government-editorial/73338806007/
...And as Paxton has failed (so far) to escape a misconduct lawsuit related to his work on behalf of Donald Trump to overturn the 2020 election: https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/texas-attorney-general-paxton-must-face-attorney-ethics-case-appeals-court-rules-2024-04-19/
Greg Abbott has taken to bashing on transgender teachers: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/greg-abbott-trans-teachers-texas-1235008156/
...But seems oblivious that Texas is now hiring thousands of presumably non-trans teachers who are unqualified for the job: https://www.fox7austin.com/news/texas-public-schools-uncertified-teachers-on-the-rise
A 10 year old Nixon boy has admitted murdering a neighbor when he was 7 - using a gun stored loaded in a truck glove compartment by his grandfather: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2024/04/19/texas-10-year-old-confessed-to-shooting-to-death-man-2-years-ago-authorities-say/
Early voting in the first of two May elections - for oversight positions with municipal tax appraisal districts - starts today! https://progresstexas.org/blog/why-you-should-care-about-may-appraisal-district-elections
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
This 4-20, we recognize that while over half of the United States now enjoys either legal recreational cannabis or at least generous medical allowances, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wants to take away even the inferior weed alternatives we have to settle for in Texas: https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/south-texas-el-paso/news/2024/04/18/texas-lt--gov-prioritizes-delta-8-ban-ahead-of-legislation-session
Texas Representatives in the U.S. House are divided on Ukraine aid, between traitors and non-traitors: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/18/texas-republicans-ukraine-aid-chip-roy/
Is Ken Paxton playing four-dimensional chess with his claim that that huge SCOTUS loss for Texas was actually a win? Our sources say, hell no: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/ken-paxton-texas-court-loss-19410575.php
Democratic U.S. Rep Vicente Gonzalez was outraised two to one in the first quarter by GOP backers of challenger Mayra Flores: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/18/mayra-flores-outraises-vicente-gonzalez/
South Texas farmers are in big trouble as water supplies dwindle before summer even arrives: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/18/south-texas-drought-agriculture/
...While an affluent community in the San Antonio area, Fair Oaks Ranch, has apparently been stealing water for 20 years from an improperly registered well: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/illegal-water-pumping-fair-oaks-19408218.php
Today's date, April 19, is one of importance to militant white supremacist types - but pales in comparison to April 20, Adolf Hitler's birthday: https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reidout-blog/oklahoma-city-bombing-timothy-mcveigh-extremism-rcna148465
Don't forget about the Texas Gun Sense community picnic on Saturday, April 20 in central Austin: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tx-gun-sense_texas-gun-sense-invites-all-of-our-supporters-activity-7183153558412750850-cS-U
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
After a 9-0 unanimous loss at SCOTUS in a property rights dispute for Texas, Ken Paxton curiously claims it was actually a win: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4600506-lawyers-for-texas-rancher-blast-paxtons-claim-of-supreme-court-win/
Recent Biden administration expansion of debt cancellation will benefit almost 217,000 Texans to the tune of $9.5 billion (with a B): https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Texas-4.12.pdf
...While Harris County officials announce a multi-million dollar investment in new job apprenticeships in a win for local and state unions: https://progresstexas.org/blog/harris-county-follows-biden%E2%80%99s-bold-investment-union-apprenticeships
49 Texas water utilities have been found short of new standards for "forever chemicals" from the EPA: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/16/texas-pfas-forever-chemicals-public-water-systems-epa-limit/
...While little old Muleshoe, Texas comes under suspected Russian cyber attack upon its water system: https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/17/politics/russia-hacking-group-suspected-texas-water-cyberattack/index.html
Don't forget about the Texas Gun Sense community picnic on Saturday, April 20 in central Austin: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tx-gun-sense_texas-gun-sense-invites-all-of-our-supporters-activity-7183153558412750850-cS-U
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A new poll shows Ted Cruz leading Colin Allred by less than the percentage of undecided voters: https://www.khou.com/article/news/politics/elections/texas-poll-cruz-allred-trump-biden-race/285-bcc3a200-0d18-448d-ba7a-90e8fa4996dd
Texas Republican Congressmen Michael McCaul and August Pfluger are among the GOP gang who delivered the futile and stupid impeachment articles against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate yesterday: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/16/michael-mccaul-august-pfluger-mayorkas-impeachment/
Republican Tarrant County Judge Tim O'Hare told Commissioner Alisa Simmons, a Black woman, to "sit there and be quiet" during a partisan exchange at the Tarrant County Commissioners Court yesterday: https://www.keranews.org/government/2024-04-16/you-sit-there-and-be-quiet-tarrant-commissioners-argue-over-county-judges-contract-employee
Increasing heat is coupling with ever-building energy demand to erase the springtime power draw lulls that ERCOT still unrealistically wants to use for grid maintenence: https://www.marketplace.org/2024/04/16/texas-electric-grid-is-feeling-the-strain-and-its-not-even-all-that-hot-yet/
Freeport LNG is levied an embarrassingly small fine for years of emissions violations at its Quintana plant: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/texas-regulators-fine-freeport-lng-environmental-breaches-2024-04-17/
Early voting in the municipal elections of new oversight positions with county tax apprasial districts starts Monday! https://progresstexas.org/blog/why-you-should-care-about-may-appraisal-district-elections
Don't forget about the Texas Gun Sense community picnic NEXT Saturday, April 20 in central Austin: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tx-gun-sense_texas-gun-sense-invites-all-of-our-supporters-activity-7183153558412750850-cS-U
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review a 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that protest organizers are liable for the actions of attendees, undermining the First Amendment right of gathering and demonstration: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/texas-right-to-protest-19403818.php
...While video of the death of another unarmed Black man while being restrained by police in Texas is released: https://www.expressnews.com/news/texas/article/kenneth-knotts-body-cam-footage-19395426.php
The Texas Health And Human Services Commission is found to be in contempt of federal court over its failure to follow up on claims of abuse and neglect by children in our foster care system: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/15/texas-foster-care-federal-judge-fine-contempt/
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick is hoping the Republican "Contract On Texas" will pave the way for the elimination of property taxes (and the destruction of public schools) in Texas: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/texas-property-tax-elimination-schools-19399995.php
Colin Allred is now outpacing even Beto O'Rourke's impressive fundraising numbers from 2018: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/15/colin-allred-beto-orourke-ted-cruz-fundraising/
Those billions of federal dollars coming to Texas via a massive investment in Samsung, explained: https://thehill.com/business/4594523-biden-administration-samsung-texas-chips-act/?email=467cb6399cb7df64551775e431052b43a775c749&emaila=12a6d4d069cd56cfddaa391c24eb7042&emailb=054528e7403871c79f668e49dd3c44b1ec00c7f611bf9388f76bb2324d6ca5f3&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=04.15.24%20Tech
Don't forget about the Texas Gun Sense community picnic NEXT Saturday, April 20 in central Austin: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tx-gun-sense_texas-gun-sense-invites-all-of-our-supporters-activity-7183153558412750850-cS-U
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Not only is it Tax Day here in mid-April, but we've also already started getting warnings of power failures from ERCOT: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-12/texas-warns-of-possible-power-emergency-next-week
Hard right GOP Texas House lawmakers have written up a Contract On Texas, which would allow them to push through their most radical agenda items with little resistance: https://www.kxan.com/state-of-texas/state-of-texas-contract-with-texas-aims-to-push-house-further-right/
...Part of which is threatening people who seek abortion care with the death penalty: https://www.yahoo.com/news/texas-gop-preach-morals-abortion-142543561.html
Red states across America are hard at work putting together copycat anti-migrant laws based upon SB-4: https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/14/us/texas-immigration-law-iowa-other-us-states-cec/index.html
...Could the collective harrassment threatened by SB-4 build voting unity among Texas Latinos? https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/04/texas-immigration-law-latino-voters/678063/
...Louisiana soldiers sent in to help with Operation Lone Star have largely been sitting around doing nothing: https://www.nola.com/news/politics/national_politics/louisiana-soldiers-on-mexico-border/article_a0122d24-f930-11ee-86dd-47dfc542a907.html
Ken Paxton's effort to crack down on Media Matters for negative reporting on Elon Musk's X has been defeated in court: https://www.thedailybeast.com/judge-deals-blow-to-texas-ags-retaliatory-probe-of-media-matters-for-america
GOP slimeballs Jonathan Stickland and Matt Rinaldi have formed a new right-wing action group called "Ratmaster Holdings LLC": https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/12/jonathan-stickland-matt-rinaldi-white-supremacy-scandal/
Don't forget about the Texas Gun Sense community picnic NEXT Saturday, April 20 in central Austin: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tx-gun-sense_texas-gun-sense-invites-all-of-our-supporters-activity-7183153558412750850-cS-U
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Late last week, the Biden administration and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced a new rule designed to close the infamous "gun show loophole" - gaps in background check requirements that allowed basically anyone, regardless of criminal background or mental state, to buy a gun from a dealer outside of a brick-and-mortar shop. And - right on cue - our senior Senator John Cornyn has announced a fight to block it. We've invited our good friend Nicole Golden, Executive Director of Texas Gun Sense, back to the Happy Hour to tell us what this new rule means, what chances its opposition might have of undermining it, and what's next in the fight for common-sense gun safety regulations that's been central for their hard-working organization for a lotta years now - we are fans.
Learn more about this new rule here: https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/04/13/bidens-bulls-eye-on-gun-loophole-background-checks-are-needed-on-every-weapon-sale/
Learn more about Texas Gun Sense (and RSVP for the April 20th picnic in Austin!): https://txgunsense.org/
Thanks for listening! Learn more about what Progress Texas does, and how you can join the fight too, at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Those "I'm In Control" pro-adoption billboards are not only misleading about the realities of adoption as an abortion alternative - they're also being paid for by YOUR tax dollars: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/article/misleading-ads-no-remedy-cruelty-texas-abortion-19324750.php
...While San Antonio officials argue over whether to use their Reproductive Justice Fund to pay for out-of-state travel for abortion care seekers: https://www.tpr.org/government-politics/2024-04-11/majority-of-san-antonio-city-council-supports-using-tax-dollars-for-out-of-state-abortion-travel
...And the Black reproductive health non-profit the Afiya Center highlights Colorado as its top choice for abortion care travel, due to that state's high standards of safety: https://www.9news.com/article/news/health/texas-nonprofit-calls-colorados-abortion-access-lifesaving/73-427eac86-3103-495f-8e93-ba260aa64ca0
So, is Ted Cruz's clandestine payoff from his podcast illegal? https://www.texasobserver.org/ted-cruz-podcast-payoff-fec-complaint/
...Don't count on the Federal Elections Commission to be much of a problem for Cruz, as its current Trump-appointed chair is a MAGA diehard: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/head-of-commission-hearing-complaint-against-ted-cruz-once-worked-for-the-senator-34271983
Senator John Cornyn, having learned his lesson after crossing Texas gun nuts after the Uvalde shooting, is pledging to block new Biden admistration regulations on the "gun show loophole": https://www.chron.com/politics/article/john-cornyn-gun-reform-texas-19397377.php
Don't forget about the Texas Gun Sense community picnic NEXT Saturday, April 20 in central Austin: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tx-gun-sense_texas-gun-sense-invites-all-of-our-supporters-activity-7183153558412750850-cS-U
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Any time a bright idea comes springing from the Republican-led Texas Legislature, alarm bells should go off for Texas progressives - and newly-created elected positions of oversight for county appraisal districts are certainly no exception. Should the GOP succeed in their plans to monkey-wrench the tax apprasal processes of large (and generally Democratically-run) cities, you can count on them to create as much havoc for us, and as much profit for themselves, as humanly possible. Which is why we've invited two Democrats and longtime PT partners running for these important seats to explain what all of this means, and why it's so important to vote in EVERY election - even the ones that seem vague and unimportant (there's no such thing)! Dick Lavine is endorsed by Progress Texas in his race for one of these newly-created positions in Travis County, and Progress Texas Certified Progressive Kendall Scudder is running in Dallas County - we're proud to welcome both of them back for an important and informative conversation.
Learn more about Dick Lavine at https://www.dicklavinefortcad.com/, and learn more about Kendall Scudder at https://www.kendallscudder.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn about all the groovy ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Two advocacy groups have asked the Federal Election Commission to look into Ted Cruz's podcast income, which may have been sent to a PAC supporting his re-election illegally: https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/ted-cruz-podcast-campaign-finance-complaint/
The Texas Education Agency is planning to replace up to $20 million in human labor in STAAR Test scoring with AI: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/09/staar-artificial-intelligence-computer-grading-texas/
TODAY AT 11AM - Join Progress Texas and the Trade Justice Education Fund to rally against an oil polluter who is challenging a decision made in Quebec, Canada against a new LNG terminal: https://tradejusticeedfund.org/events/texas-rally-against-ruby-rivers-isds-attack-on-climate-action/
A lawsuit by three Black Texas DPS troopers, accusing the agency of racial discrimination, can move forward this summer: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/black-troopers-discrimination-lawsuit-19396537.php
A Louisiana gun company, hired by multiple North Texas law enforcement agencies to destroy unwanted guns, has instead been stripping them for parts, which are then sold online: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/i-team-guns-sent-off-by-texas-police-departments-to-be-destroyed-were-stripped-of-parts-and-sold-online/
Solar energy deployment in Texas continues to lead the nation and is now closing in on natural gas as the most sensible source and solution: https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2024/04/09/solar-is-beginning-to-sunset-natural-gas-use-in-texas/
...It's already a major component of the overall electical supply during daylight hours: https://cleantechnica.com/2024/04/09/texas-solar-power-growth-changing-the-shape-of-daily-electricity-supply-in-ercot/
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
With new developments in Arizona against reproductive freedom, now's the time for Texas abortion rights advocates to redouble our efforts: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/04/immigration-abortion-texas-greg-abbott-migrant-border-crisis-stunts.html
H-E-B stores are stocking a new over-the-counter birth control medication: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/opill-birth-control-heb-19381763.php
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick is calling for more pastors to run for elected office in Texas: https://www.chron.com/culture/religion/article/dan-patrick-ed-young-19392259.php
A new book examines the outsized political influence of angry White rural voters: https://www.alternet.org/angry-white-rage/
Younger Texans are still not being engaged to vote: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/10/texas-high-school-voter-registration/
Progress Texas joins the Texas Muslim community in celebrating Eid al-fitr: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-unity-embracing-eid
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Yesterday's historic eclipse reminds us how far solar power infrastructure has come in Texas: https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/eclipse-overshadows-texas-solar-power-strength-2024-04-08/
A group of nine Houston-area state lawmakers are calling for a public hearing about potential violations of state law by Houstpn ISD, still under TEA control: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/texas-hisd-violations-19391789.php
Hundreds of Texas seniors have recently been overcharged on their Social Security checks by a Texas Health and Human Services Commission clerical error: https://www.newsweek.com/texas-seniors-error-medicare-coverage-benefits-1888195
Texas mom Amanda Zurawski, who nearly died due to the denial of essential abortion care by state law, is featured in a new Biden campaign ad: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4582134-new-biden-campaign-ad-blames-trump-for-near-death-of-texas-woman-who-was-denied-abortion/
...While the Biden administration dedicates another $6 billion to Samsung for microchip plant development in Taylor, Texas: https://www.reuters.com/technology/samsung-get-6-7-billion-chip-subsidy-next-week-texas-expansion-sources-say-2024-04-08/
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following thi s morning at Progress Texas:
Happy Eclipse Day! Careful with your glasses and good luck with the weather.
Eagle Pass is missing out on a huge, rare windfall with Operation Lone Star occupying Shelby Park, where a big eclipse festival had been planned: https://www.thedailybeast.com/texas-gov-greg-abbott-already-managed-to-screw-up-the-eclipse
A video of Texas Supreme Court Justice John Devine went viral over the weekend in which he pushes election fraud misinformation: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/05/texas-supreme-court-justice-john-devine-2024-election/
...A great moment to revisit Find Out PAC, who are looking to unseat Devine and two other justices this fall: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/abortion-texas-supreme-court-19385442.php
...We featured Find Out PAC on the Progress Texas Happy Hour earlier this year: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/happy-hour-144-find-out-pac-targets-texas-supreme-courts-jimmy-john-and-jane
A university professors association has protested the firing of 60 University of Texas employees who had worked for UT's DEI programs: https://apnews.com/article/university-texas-diversity-equity-inclusion-ban-6535e157c65555c8fca08a878566c151
A Republican group backing American support of Ukraine has published a scorecard that reveals a large group of Texas lawmakers who score an F in opposing Vladimir Putin: https://gopforukraine.com/ukraine-report-card/
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
At a speaking event at the University of Texas yesterday, Republican and former House Speaker Joe Straus confirms that oil billionaire Tim Dunn told him during a 2010 meeting of his opinion that only Christians should hold positions of leadership in the Texas Legislature: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/04/tim-dunn-joe-straus-christian-texas/
...New details of UT's mass-firing of former DEI employees this week: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/04/05/dei-ban-university-of-texas-sb-17/73206765007/
...Signs of discontent among the UT student body are literally popping up: https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/not-our-texas-notes-placed-near-ut-campus-appear-to-protest-dei-law-firings/
...Link to the "Not Our Texas" Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/notourtexas/?img_index=1
Ken Paxton insists that the press got Texas Solicitor General Aaron Nielsen's view that Texas may have "gone too far" on SB-4: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/ken-paxton-sb4-immigration-19385168.php
The conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation has dodged paying property taxes on its luxury Capitol-area digs for the last decade: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-public-policy-foundation-property-taxes/
Austin listeners: mark April 20th for the first Advocate Spring Picnic to be hosted by Texas Gun Sense in central Austin: https://tinyurl.com/yc6jsacj
Central Texas listeners: please help Progress Texas by nominating our ever-popular Humans Against Ted Cruz campaign in the Austin Chronicle's Best OF Austin Readers Poll: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/oxds6t7aDnQXKwkL/?mibextid=WC7FNe
Direct to the page: https://vote.austinchronicle.com/
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Progress Texas proudly endorsed Houston progressive activist and organizer Lauren Ashley Simmons in her race to replace fellow Democrat Shawn Thierry in the Texas House - and she came within half a point of unseating one of the least-reliable Democrats in that body in the primary last month. The runoff election is coming up on May 4 - one month from the publishing of this episode - and we're proud to bring Lauren back for an update.
Follow the adventures of Lauren Ashley Simmons at https://www.laurenashleysimmons.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about all the great stuff Progress Texas does and how to support our work in this all-important election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Colin Allred on The Daily Show this week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtnYzqWtIKE
After yesterday's hearing at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, SB-4 remains blocked for now: https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/crime/texas-controversial-immigration-law-remains-on-hold-shelved-by-3-judge-panel/ar-BB1l1WlU
...Meanwhile a Texas National Guard soldier has been arrested on human trafficking charges: https://abc13.com/texas-national-guard-soldier-arrested-savion-johnson-human-smuggling-us-mexico-border/14613422/
A pair of Denton ISD administrators have been indicted on charges of illegal electioneering: https://komonews.com/news/nation-world/texas-school-district-employees-indicted-in-alleged-illegal-electioneering-scheme-denton-isd-attorney-general-ken-paxton-jesus-and-lindsay-lujan-republican-primary-gop-voting-elections-crisis-in-the-classroom
Uvalde's brand new mayor has quit, just ahead of a planned City Council vote on a new report clearing the officers who responded to the Robb Elementary shooting of wrongdoing: https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/uvalde-mayor-cody-smith-resigns-rcna146088
...The author of that report, a former Austin Police Department detective, himself has no active shooter training: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lead-investigator-in-uvalde-police-probe-had-no-active-shooter-training-report_n_660d68dfe4b083254eaa817c
GOP subcommitte chairs have announced a "field hearing" in Port Arthur next week that will likely amount to a MAGA rally for oil and gas interests: https://energycommerce.house.gov/posts/chairs-rodgers-and-duncan-announce-field-hearing-in-port-arthur-on-biden-s-lng-export-ban
Central Texas listeners: please help Progress Texas by nominating our ever-popular Humans Against Ted Cruz campaign in the Austin Chronicle's Best OF Austin Readers Poll: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/oxds6t7aDnQXKwkL/?mibextid=WC7FNe
Direct to the page: https://vote.austinchronicle.com/
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
SB-4 will see a hearing at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals today, with a focus on its constitutionality: https://www.npr.org/2024/04/03/1242451969/a-controversial-immigration-law-will-be-back-in-court-in-texas
...While the Southern Poverty Law Center discovers that Operation Lone Star has been paying a Texas hate group millions of dollars to bus migrants northward in terrible conditions: https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2024/04/02/texas-company-paid-extremist-group-20-million-operation-lone-star-busing
...A Dallas education reformer (and Republican primary voter) points out inconsistencies between conservative hate for migrants and the vital role they play in our economy: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2024/04/03/we-need-texas-republicans-to-rescue-our-workforce/
...Bloomberg has published a solid video essay on the Texas border drama and where it's headed next: https://youtu.be/S7ewfWcFHpU?si=JCRjaXhvxCj9lMfE
The University of Texas at Austin has drastically stepped up its DEI dismantling efforts, suddenly firing about 60 related employees: https://www.kut.org/education/2024-04-02/ut-austin-dei-diversity-law-sb-17
...UT students are pissed and organizing: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/education/texas-employees-fired-dei-ban-at-ut-austin/269-fc37c6cc-79fe-43d2-81fd-5daab6baa27f
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg will be in the Dallas area tomorrow to celebrate infrastructure improvements designed to erase prior cultural and community barriers: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/pete-buttigieg-visit-dallas-thursday-highlight-north-texas-highway-projects/287-20e721ec-51da-4ea8-93ea-9ab849cae674
Central Texas listeners: please help Progress Texas by nominating our ever-popular Humans Against Ted Cruz campaign in the Austin Chronicle's Best OF Austin Readers Poll: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/oxds6t7aDnQXKwkL/?mibextid=WC7FNe
Direct to the page: https://vote.austinchronicle.com/
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Colin Allred trails Ted Cruz in some polls, but has beaten the odds against established Republicans before: https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2024/03/qa-senate-hopeful-colin-allred-says-november-election-is-larger-than-our-own-problems/
...Allred highlights Ted Cruz's lockstep support for Texas' abortion ban and the potential for a national ban: https://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/-that-s-not-freedom-allred-hits-ted-cruz-s-extreme-abortion-record-208121413883
...Watchdog groups are noticing a potentially over-cozy relationship with iHeartMedia, a registered lobbyist: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/ted-cruz-podcast-payment/
PT's Hiba Faruqi writes on the current and future state of Texas' intense climate crisis: https://progresstexas.org/texas-climate-crisis-rising-temperatures-threaten-homes-and-health
..While future monster hurricanes are already driving homeowner insurance rates skyward: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/hurricane-texas-climate-economy-insurance-19371487.php
That bird flu case in Texas? There's good news and bad news: https://www.vox.com/health/24118152/explain-it-to-me-bird-flu-human-case-texas-chickens-cows-animal-agriculture
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The chief judge of the Northern District of Texas says his court will not follow new rules from the Judicial Conference designed to curb "judge shopping": https://www.commondreams.org/news/judge-shopping-texas
A Starr County woman has sued the Starr County prosecutor's office over false murder charges they pressed upon her over a self-induced abortion in 2022: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/30/us/texas-abortion-murder-charge-lawsuit.html
Severe emotional trauma for an East Texas family whose matriarch was forced to carry a baby with a fatal brain anomaly to term by Texas' draconian abortion limits: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2024/03/health/texas-abortion-law-mother-cnnphotos/
A Rockwall Southern Baptist Convention pastor is under fire over a misogynistic joke he told at Lakepointe Church recently: https://www.chron.com/culture/religion/article/texas-sbc-pastor-marriage-joke-19376274.php
Our state's own data shows that immigrants are less likely to commit homicide than citizens: https://www.latintimes.com/how-us-media-coverage-contributes-polarization-immigration-debate-across-country-552552
Seeking to solidify gains among Latino voters in Texas, a group of Hispanic GOP lawmakers has founded a new caucus: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/texas-hispanic-republicans-19375625.php
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
On Good Friday, we join reminders to President Biden of his campaign pledge to end capital punishment in America: https://www.newsweek.com/president-biden-should-follow-through-ending-death-penalty-opinion-1883271
On Easter Sunday, we also observe this year's Trans Day Of Visibility, and encourage a renewal of kindness and protection for that valued segment of our Texas family: https://glaad.org/tdov/
Fort Worth grandmother Crystal Mason, sentenced to five years for voting in the 2016 election while banned from doing so, has had her five-year prison sentence thrown out: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/28/crystal-mason-texas-woman-acquitted
...The ACLU of Texas has been in Mason's corner all along: https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/texas-second-court-of-appeals-reverses-crystal-masons-conviction-in-major-voting-rights-victory
...While Ken Paxton is targenting several school districts across the state for daring to encourage people to vote: https://progresstexas.org/blog/ag-ken-paxton-sues-isds-encouraged-voting
A California urologist points out the danger pregnant people in Texas face every day by refusing to travel here while pregnant: https://www.tpr.org/news/2024-03-28/urologist-refuses-to-come-to-san-antonio-for-annual-conference-because-of-texas-abortion-laws
H-E-B Chairman Charles Butt is the latest relatively-conservative but also generally normal public figure targeted by Texas Republicans for being insufficiently nutty: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-gop-heb-chairman-charles-butt/
Dallas U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett is featured on the latest episode of Pod Save America: https://crooked.com/podcast/a-tale-of-two-campaigns/
Temps are expected to hit 100 about two weeks ahead of "normal" along the Rio Grande Valley over the holiday weekend: https://www.expressnews.com/san-antonio-weather/forecast/article/triple-digit-texas-early-next-week-19373899.php
Progress Texas invites progressive candidates to share their views with us - which we'll then share with our statewide audience - via our Certified Progressive questionnaire: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-certified-progressives-2024-progressive-values-questionnaire
Instagram users: be sure to enable political content on that platform, which has begun opting users out. https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/1771276124498100667?s=20
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A Christian Nationalist group, with support from current elected officials, calls for women who have sought abortion care to be charged with murder: https://twitter.com/MrsAMartini/status/1773160427981070620?t=KYb98_RSF5BTJKpKpBe0pw&s=19
Rep, James Talarico's talk on Christian Nationalism: https://youtu.be/Blph_2RSBno?feature=shared
Governor Abbott has issued an executive order equating pro-Palestinian protest with anti-semitism, ordering Texas universities to crack down: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/abbott-antisemitism-texas-colleges-19371821.php
...While students at UT find the new lack of DEI support discouraging: https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/28/us/university-of-texas-austin-anti-dei-law/index.html
...And in incredible timing, a new right-wing institute has opened at UT: https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2024-03-27/right-wing-funded-civitas-institute-is-almost-up-and-running-at-ut-austin/
In a small win for capital punishment opponents, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has re-sentenced an intellectually-disabled death row inmate to life in prison: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/27/randall-mays-death-penalty-intellectual-disability/
As Women's History Month winds down, check out a great talk with the longest-standing members of both the Texas Senate and the Texas House, both of whom are women: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-149-womens-history-month-with-sen-judith/id1552998795?i=1000650551946
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
As expected, felony securities fraud charges delayed by a decade for Ken Paxton were dropped in a deal with prosecutors yesterday - but why? https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/ken-paxton-fraud-deal-19369122.php
...But our AG's legal troubles are far from over: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/politics/ken-paxton-legal-battles/269-ceefcfd0-3ebb-4cff-8bf5-b7e5b7030ce7
...Still, we learn yet again that justice is not equal in Texas: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2024/03/27/this-is-ken-paxtons-texas/
...PT Advocacy Fellow Tatum Owens weighs in: https://progresstexas.org/blog/statement-paxton-deal-joke%E2%80%99s-texas
SCOTUS judges considering the Texas case against mifepristone seemed pretty skeptical of the argument against the abortion medication yesterday: https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2024-03-26/supreme-court-argument-abortion-pills-justices-skeptical
...While the nation's highest court may consider a case challenging a Texas law that only allows older voters full access to voting by mail: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/03/supreme-court-texas-mail-in-voting-case.html
Republican U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls of the southern Houston suburbs is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4557719-texas-republican-under-investigation-by-house-ethics-committee/
As Women's History Month winds down, check out a great talk with the longest-standing members of both the Texas Senate and the Texas House, both of whom are women: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-149-womens-history-month-with-sen-judith/id1552998795?i=1000650551946
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
As we continue observing Women's History Month this March, it may come as a surprise - and considering over-arching political circumstances in Texas, perhaps ironic - that the senior members of BOTH the Texas Senate and the Texas House of Representatives are women. We are honored to be joined by State Representative Senfronia Thompson - known to her colleagues, constituents and fans as "Ms. T" - and Senator Judith Zaffirini, a trailblazer both for women and Hispanic Texans, for a deep dive into their experiences as actual participants in women's history in Texas. Have a look at the good old boys' club they've had to confront (and dominate) as women have taken their rightful place in the leadership of the Texas Democratic delegation - much experience and wisdom to be gained in this terrific conversation.
Find Senator Judith Zaffirini at https://judithzaffirini.com/.
Find Representative Senfronia Thompson at https://senfroniathompson.com/.
Thanks for listening! Find our awesome web store and all the great stuff we do - and ways to help us keep doing it - at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The public comment period has begun on the Texas Medical Board and their timidity on specifics regarding abortion ban exceptions in Texas - make your voice heard here: https://progresstexas.org/blog/protect-abortion-rights-provide-public-comment-texas-medical-board
More from the Center for Reproductive Rights: https://twitter.com/ReproRights/status/1771262245562945696
Ken Paxon appears set to sign a deal allowing him to escape prosecution on nine-year-old felony securities fraud charges today: https://abc13.com/ken-paxton-securities-fraud-texas-attorney-general-to-reach-deal-dismissing-charges/14570216/
Paxton's attempts to gain the records of PFLAG National on how they've helped transgender kids with medical care have hit a legal block, for now: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2024/03/25/texas-judge-blocks-ag-paxton-demands-gender-affirming-care-records-transgender-minors-privacy/73095581007/
President Biden is shattering fundraising records in Texas, while his opponent's support from the donor class appears to be wilting: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/election/2024/article/biden-fundraising-haul-19367682.php
Natural water springs across Texas are going dry at an alarming rate: https://www.kxan.com/news/local/hays/study-shows-that-texas-has-nearly-3-times-more-dry-springs-than-50-years-ago/
The Texas State Board of Education's divestment from Blackrock is dumb on multiple levels: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/texas-schools-oil-banks-esg-law-19367323.php
March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas
Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Attorneys for Ken Paxton appear close to cutting a deal with prosecutors that would bring the nine-year-long felony securities fraud charges against him to an end: https://abc13.com/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxtons-fraud-charges-could-be-dismissed-security-case-communnity-service-tribune/14559450/
There's a hearing on all of this set for tomorrow: https://www.fox26houston.com/video/1430473
A large march featuring dozens of social justice organizations was held in downtown Dallas yesterday: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas/2024/03/24/hundreds-march-through-downtown-dallas-sunday-in-protest-of-texas-senate-bill-4/
Are all those billions of dollars Governor Abbott has spent on Operation Lone Star making any difference? https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/23/us/texas-abbott-border.html
Could Democrats in Texas end up winning over SB-4? https://thehill.com/latino/4550696-texas-democrats-see-political-opportunity-in-hardline-immigration-law/
Will Biden stand up to Abbott - with investigators and lawyers? https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/22/opinions/biden-texas-border-immigration-law-downes/index.html
ERCOT admits underestimating San Antonio's growth - and has left the grid exposed to failures as a result: https://www.expressnews.com/business/article/ercot-admits-texas-grid-faces-risk-cascading-19363129.php
...While a new solar and battery storage facility is underway near Dallas: https://electrek.co/2024/03/22/texas-installs-another-big-solar-battery-storage-project/
March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas
Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A large group of desperate migrants pushed through border fortifications at El Paso yesterday, highlighting the humanitarian crisis being created by Republican policy: https://www.keranews.org/texas-news/2024-03-21/migrants-on-texas-southern-border-breach-wire-barriers-erected-under-operation-lone-star
...U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, on a diplomatic mission to Guatemala, calls SB-4 "unconstitutional": https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-homeland-security-secretary-mayorkas-calls-texas-immigration-law-unconstitutional
...While officials in Mexico continue adamantly opposing the new law, predicting the discrimination and criminalization its citizens are likely to face: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexico-fears-discrimination-strained-us-relations-under-new-texas-immigration-2024-03-21/
President Joe Biden wrapped up a two-day fundraising visit to Dallas and Houston yesterday: https://www.khou.com/article/news/national/president-joe-biden-houston-texas-campaign-trail/285-e10b6875-71f5-41e6-939b-4e800c70a45e
Is the U.S. Supreme Court giving a green light to state leaders like Governor Abbott to turn their states into far-right dictatorships? https://www.salon.com/2024/03/21/grants-gov-greg-abbotts-wish-to-turn-texas-into-a-far-right-dictatorship/
Abbott says he's just two House votes short of making private school vouchers a reality in Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/20/greg-abbott-tppf-vouchers-primary-runoff/
Ted Cruz gets schooled by a former Harvard Law classmate: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ted-cruz-law-school-hated_n_65fbddd0e4b0d2a3e7775421
A top executive at Blackrock implores the Texas State Board of Education to reconsider pulling over 8 billion dollars from its management, as that's not a wise move financially: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/blackrock-dismayed-8-5-billion-194252592.html?guccounter=1
The Texas Observer publishes a poignant response to Richard Linklater's new documentary on the death penalty in Texas: https://www.texasobserver.org/death-penalty-god-save-texas/
March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas
Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals was not successful in reaching a decision yesterday regarding whether to allow SB-4 to take effect while being considered by the courts: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68613083
...Texas sheriffs appear enthusiastic about SB-4 but are inconsistent about their views on enforcing it: https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-migrant-arrests-texas-8e232b8a0c2979943c87c7309652ed34
...Dallas House Rep. Victoria Neave Criado calls SB-4 "extreme, terrible legislation": https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/watch/-extreme-terrible-legislation-texas-gop-immigration-law-set-to-spark-national-controversy-207222341926
...Republican-led states, starting with Iowa, are lining up to mimic SB-4: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/20/us/texas-immigration-republican-states.html
...The ACLU of New Mexico is warning Hispanic travelers heading to Texas to be ready for racial profiling: https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/aclu-renews-warning-for-new-mexicans-traveling-to-texas/
...A nice flyover graphic of Eagle Pass and Shelby Park by the New York Times is worth studying: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/03/20/us/abbott-immigration-texas-border.html
The Texas Medical Board is set to discuss possible clarification of guidelines regarding exceptions to Texas' near-complete abortion ban: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article286741925.html
The U.S. Supreme Court is considering the case of a Bexar County City Council Member who claims she was arrested out of retaliation for criticizing the Castle Hills City Manager: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/20/supreme-court-castle-hills-sylvia-gonzalez/
President Joe Biden is in Texas for three fundraising events: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/20/joe-biden-texas-visit-dallas-houston/
Texas U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions is named in testimony on a group of Republicans who have worked to dig up dirt on President Biden and his family: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2024/03/20/ron-johnson-did-russias-bidding-on-biden-lev-parnas-tells-congress/73043736007/
March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas
Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.
These days, it seems that Facebook, Instagram and other major social media platforms would much rather deal in cat videos than politics - perhaps political talk is too much trouble to moderate, or maybe too intellectually challenging to be much fun for much of their attention-addled audiences. In this second of two full panel discussions from this year's Unified Jam in Austin, Unified Head of Partnerships Brian Smith discusses the current collision between politics and social media with two power players in the digital political messaging space: Shaniqua McClendon is VP of Politics for Crooked Media, the producers of Pod Save America, Lovett Or Leave It and a whole array of great progressive podcasts and digital products, and Kyle Tharp is Managing Director of the political news platform Courier Newsroom and the author of the popular weekly "FWIW" newsletter.
Find out more about Unified at https://www.joinunified.us/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about what we do at Progress Texas and how to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
After yesterday's allowance of SB-4 to take effect by the U.S. Supreme Court in returning the case to the 5th Circuit of Appeals, the 5th Circuit renews the hold- as of this morning, it's blocked: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/03/19/us/texas-immigration-supreme-court
...Reactions within Texas border communities: https://apnews.com/article/texas-state-law-abbott-biden-migrants-mexico-f63836e590f2cdea15acd387b78ef292
...Reactions from the White House: https://www.theguardian.com/law/2024/mar/19/us-supreme-court-texas-migrant-law
...Reactions from the three SCOTUS liberal Justices: https://thehill.com/campaign-issues/immigration/4542757-sow-chaos-sotomayor-chastises-supreme-court-for-allowing-texas-law-to-stand/
...Reactions from Mexico: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/19/us/mexico-texas-border-immigration.html
The Texas Permanent School Fund has yanked over 8 billion of your tax dollars from the investment company Blackrock over that company's environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2024/03/20/esg-blackrock-texas-permanent-school-fund-withdraws-investment/73028870007/
A University of Houston survey finds that President Biden is lagging behind Donald Trump among Texas Latino voters: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/election/2024/article/texas-latinos-prefer-trump-biden-matchup-uh-poll-18642473.php
Governor Abbott and House Speaker Dade Phelan hung out publicly yesterday in Dallas - is that weird? https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/19/greg-abbott-dade-phelan-primary/
March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas
Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito extends the Court's stay on SB-4 a third time, seemingly indefinitely: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68597752
...Indicating anything but an open-and-shut matter: https://www.nytimes.com/article/texas-border-law-challenge-explainer.html
The Dallas Morning News kicks Texas GOP Chair Matt Rinaldi on his way out the door: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2024/03/19/will-texas-gop-continue-its-descent-without-matt-rinaldi-as-chair/
...Apparent successor Abraham George was recently stopped by police from confronting his wife's lover with a gun: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/state/texas-news/texas-gop-chair-candidate-tried-confront-wifes-alleged-lover-with-loaded-gun/287-cfd22953-0cea-443c-9cc5-cd9c0d430367
...A new review of the descent into conspiratorial madness by the Texas Republican Party: https://www.npr.org/2024/03/18/1239283038/how-the-texas-gop-has-grown-more-and-more-conservative
Attacks on contraceptive options for Texas teens is just another step in the conservative throttling of reproductive rights: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/03/18/teenager-birth-control-parental-consent-texas/
The Gillespie County GOP's primary hand-counting experiment was a failure - but other county parties are likely to repeat it: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/19/texas-republican-hand-count-election/
The historic fires recently in the Texas Panhandle are only the beginning as climate change parches the landscape and electrical transmission remains hazardous: https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/epic-wildfire-texas-panhandle-just-preview
Stay tuned to this feed for two panel discussions from this year's Unified Jam in Austin: https://www.unifiedjam.com/
March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas
Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.
Earlier in March, we participated in the annual Unified Jam - a political discussion and gathering event hosted by the progressive organizing social media network Unified - in the midst of Spring festival season in Austin. In this first of two panel sessions we're presenting in podcast form, introduced by Unified CEO Shion Deysarkar and moderated by our own Chris Mosser, we meet three young Texas women who've been in the thick of running for office in 2024, and they openly shared the many ups, and difficult but manageable downs, of navigating the campaign trail in Texas. Molly Cook is in the May runoff election for the Texas State Senate seat vacated by new Houston Mayor John Whitmire, Ashika Ganguly is a candidate for Austin City Council District 10, seeking to replace the term-limited Alison Alter, and Angel Carroll, while coming up short in her primary for House District 52, is in it for the long haul and will certainly be on a ballot near you in coming years. A great and inspiring conversation for YOU, if you've thought about running for something - let's do it!
More on Unified at https://www.joinunified.us/.
Thanks for listening! Find out more about how to support Progress Texas this all-important election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The U.S. Supreme Court is likely to issue a ruling on SB-4, Texas' new harsh and possibly unconstitutional new border security law: https://komonews.com/news/nation-world/scotus-decision-on-sb-4-sweeping-texas-border-security-law-could-come-by-monday-immigration-border-security-southern-border-migrant-crisis-operation-lone-star-initiative
...While SCOTUS declines to hear a case against West Texas A&M's ban on drag shows, leaving the ban intact: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/drag-show-ban-at-texas-university-left-intact-by-supreme-court
...The new rule against "judge shopping" doesn't solve the problem of activist conservative Trump-appointed judges, who will still get to rule on important cases: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/03/john-roberts-matthew-kacsmaryk-nationwide-injunctions-judge-shopping.html
...Reaction from John Cornyn and other GOP lawmakers shows how fond they were of being able to shop judges: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/republican-reaction-mcconnell-kacsmaryk-judge-shopping-rcna143610
A UT geologist warns that climate change will soon drive Texans indoors, into uneasy "fortresses of solitude": https://thehill.com/policy/equilibrium-sustainability/4529404-climate-change-is-trapping-texans-in-an-arid-fortress-of-solitude-expert-says/
Texas A&M's former president wants an independent review of the University's decision to sever ties with its Qatar campus: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2024/03/16/tamu-president-qatar-decision-needs-transparency/
And be sure to remind the Trump fans in your life that, once in power, dictators don't tend to worry themselves about who voted for them or not: https://snyder.substack.com/p/the-strongman-fantasy?action=share
March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas
Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
At the behest of two Texas attorneys, the Texas Medical Board is set to discuss clarification for medical exceptions to the near-complete ban on abortion care in Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/14/texas-medical-board-doctors-abortion-guidance/
Ken Paxton escalates his assault on Frisco ISD, whose social media posts about funding he sees as illegal electioneering: https://communityimpact.com/dallas-fort-worth/frisco/education/2024/03/14/texas-attorney-general-claims-frisco-isd-violated-restraining-order-files-contempt-motion/
A shadowy Texas company that paid an FBI informant now under indictment for lying to his handlers about Hunter Biden has been connected to Donald Trump: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/14/company-paying-fbi-informant-trump-connections
...While Republicans freak out at the suggestion by U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez that Trump is kinda like Hitler: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/14/vicente-gonzalez-trump-jews-for-hitler/
Good and bad news for the Texas grid as a major fossil fuel-fired power plant will go offline next March: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-14/texas-s-strained-power-grid-is-poised-to-lose-a-big-gas-plant
...While a Spanish renewable energy company prepares to build a huge renewable generation and battery storage facility in Texas: https://www.yahoo.com/news/battery-storage-facility-texas-continues-040000054.html
March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas
Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.
A new federal courts rule is aimed at preventing "judge shopping" - filing lawsuits in districts with single judges of sympathetic sensibilities - a favorite tactic of Ken Paxton's: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/ken-paxton-court-rule-18971181.php
More artists, and now panel speakers, have been bailing on SXSW over its ties to the military and defense tech industries: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesfarrell/2024/03/13/dozens-of-bands-and-panelists-pull-out-of-sxsw-festival-in-texas-heres-why/#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17103752871384&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fjamesfarrell%2F2024%2F03%2F13%2Fdozens-of-bands-and-panelists-pull-out-of-sxsw-festival-in-texas-heres-why%2F
The 2021 Fair Access Law, which forbids state government from doing business with companies with environmental, social and governance policies, has made financing big ticket projects in Texas much more expensive: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2024/03/13/texas-anti-esg-law-costs-losses-of-millions-of-dollars/72947344007/
Millions also burned - literally - in recent Panhandle wildfires: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/texas-wildfire-damages-could-exceed-1b-lawyer-says/
...While methane emissions by petroleum producers appears much more out of control than recently thought: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/mar/13/us-gas-leaks-report-climate-change#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17104058588972&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fbusiness%2F2024%2Fmar%2F13%2Fus-gas-leaks-report-climate-change
70 percent of Texas teachers are ready to quit: https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2024/03/14/nearly-70-of-texas-educators-say-theyre-ready-to-leave-profession-survey-shows/
...How can Texas support our teachers? https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2024/03/14/six-ways-texas-can-support-teachers/
...The word from one GOP State House Rep. drummed out over his resistance to Abbott's voucher scam: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/travis-clardy-school-voucher-crusade/
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem is in trouble over her online shilling for a Texas dentist: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/kristi-noem-faces-lawsuit-promoting-texas-dentist-social-media-rcna143325
Will Texas ever turn blue? One crunch of the data says it's inevitable: https://www.lonestarleft.com/p/will-texas-ever-turn-blue-heres-what
March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas
Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The U.S. Supreme Court has delayed the enactment of Texas' new immigration law SB-4 until at least Monday afternoon, while a new legal challenge is launched: https://apnews.com/article/texas-immigration-law-sb4-7b74b6637dd39320dfdb447a189e745f
...While Laredo U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar spearheads a new Democratic action group on immigration: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/12/henry-cuellar-democrats-senate-border-bill/
SXSW distances itself from Governor Greg Abbott following his criticism of artists leaving the festival over its sponsorship ties to the defense industry: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/sxsw-texas-greg-abbott-military-sponsorship-1234986219/
...While SXSW threatens legal action against a pro-Palestinian activist group over use of its logo: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/sxsw-protests-18926378.php
Texas is doing its best to silence an advocate raising the alarm about growing maternal mortality rates: https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2024-03-15/the-texas-task-force-that-reviews-pregnancy-related-deaths-is-losing-its-sole-advocate-position/
...While the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a Texas law eliminating confidential contraception for minors: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/12/texas-parental-consent-birth-control-fifth-circuit-title-x/
Texas, the Energy Capitol of America, suffers more power outages than any other state: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/texas-leads-nation-power-outages-18887152.php
...While the Panhandle will see perfect conditions for more wildfires today: https://www.ktsa.com/texans-should-stay-prepared-as-extreme-wildfire-danger-increases/
Ted Cruz is warning his donors that he's in for a tough fight with Colin Allred: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/ted-cruz-allred-fundraising-18894530.php
Sherman ISD has suspended its Superintendent over the call to remove a trans student from a high school play last year: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-superintendent-suspended-trans-students-removal-oklahoma-rcna143017
A former Hays County Republican operative has been given a massive prison sentence for child sex abuse and pornography: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/bo-michael-dresner-sentencing/269-17fad9be-ddb4-4304-b956-fb3ba7bb7344
A new documentary on the Alex Jones Sandy Hook trial is coming to HBO: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/truth-vs-alex-jones-trailer-hbo-1235846888/#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17103146639967&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hollywoodreporter.com%2Fmovies%2Fmovie-news%2Ftruth-vs-alex-jones-trailer-hbo-1235846888%2F
March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas
Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A judge in El Paso has backed Annunciation House, a large migrant shelter near the border, in refusing to turn its records over to Ken Paxton: https://elpasomatters.org/2024/03/11/el-paso-annunciation-house-ken-paxton-court-ruling/
Ted Cruz complains of regular Saturday pro-Palestinian protests in his front yard: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/ted-cruz-palestine-protests-18881832.php
The Texas Health and Human Services appears to have leaked the private information of thousands of East Texas: https://www.ketk.com/news/local-news/more-than-3000-east-texans-data-leaked-in-texas-health-and-human-services-commission-breach/
Worries mount that Texas' notoriously underfunded specialized health care and special education services will collapse under increased demand as more babies are born under our abortion ban: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/11/Texas-disability-services-abortion/
Good environmental news: we're now adding solar capacity faster than sunny California: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2024/03/11/solar-power-is-now-bigger-in-texas-not-california/
...And bad environmental news, as Texas sues the EPA over new limits on methane emissions by petroleum producers: https://heatmap.news/climate/texas-epa-methane
U.S. Rep Ronny Jackson of Amarillo, a retired Navy doctor, has been lying about his rank and hiding a demotion for two years: https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2024/03/07/lawmaker-who-claims-to-be-a-retired-rear-admiral-was-actually-demoted/
Former Republican candidate Daniel Rodimer has been arrested on suspicion of homicide in Nevada: https://apnews.com/article/homicide-retired-wrestler-sought-55b6c44fde97429fab5cbe6d37e67cfe
Christian Nationalism a Go Go: watch for news on SACR, an exclusive group of wealthy and influential white Christian men who seek to establish an American theocracy: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/inside-a-secret-society-of-prominent-right-wing-christian-men-prepping-for-a-national-divorce
...Why Texas is such a hotbed for Christian Nationalist activity: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-christian-nationalism-epicenter/
...East Texas State Rep. Matt Schaefer says the quiet part out loud: https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/texas-state-rep-matt-schaefer-provides-a-case-study-in-christian-nationalism/
...And even the student paper at Baylor is alarmed about Christian Nationalism: https://baylorlariat.com/2024/03/11/beware-of-christian-nationalism-god-and-texas-should-not-mix/
March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas
Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A helicopter crash Friday at the border killed three service members: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/2-soldiers-border-patrol-agent-dead-helicopter-crash-texas-mexico-bord-rcna142589
A lawsuit filed by Texas against a federal program for immigrants from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela has been thrown out: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-rejects-texas-lawsuit-against-immigration-policy-biden-border-strategy/
Hundreds protested SB-4, set to take effect this week, at the Capitol over the weekend: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/protesters-rally-against-sb4-at-texas-capitol/
A judge has decided against the National Labor Relations Board, who wanted to improve conditions for franchise employees to unionize: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/federal-judge-texas-blocks-us-labor-board-rule-107998334
Colin Allred sees disarray within the Texas GOP as a good sign for his chances to beat Ted Cruz: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4522776-colin-allred-says-texas-republican-party-is-seeing-an-internal-civil-war/
...While Cruz says he's courting...Democrats? https://www.statesman.com/story/news/columns/2024/03/10/texas-elections-senate-race-ted-cruz-colin-allred-win-support-of-democrats/72880265007/
Julie Johnson credits the women of her district for securing her win and prioritizes abortion rights in her first term: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/lgbtq-advocate-gives-women-credit-helping-her-win-congressional-race-outright-avoid-runoff/287-7cfa7124-2fce-4f6e-969d-908fafe06049
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has developed a reputation for defying the U.S. Supreme Court: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/us/supreme-court-texas-death-penalty.html
Voting success for Abbott and Paxton's revenge tours represent a further empowerment of the radical right fringe in Texas: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-primary-election-far-right-victory/
...While out of state money, misinformation and Donald Trump were more influential on voters than vouchers or the impeachment: https://texasruralreporter.substack.com/p/zero-zilch-nada-the-border-trump?r=2dg05g&utm_medium=web
...And Democrats in safe blue districts need to renew efforts to back the statewide progressive cause: https://www.lonestarleft.com/p/an-open-letter-to-the-democrats-in
March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas
Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
President Joe Biden's performance last night at the State Of The Union was stellar: https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/08/politics/cnn-poll-biden-sotu-speech-reaction/index.html
...But not perfect, with a gaffe involving language about undocumented people: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/07/state-of-the-union-joe-biden/
Pro-Palestinian protestors at Garland munitions manufacturer end up in jail: https://www.keranews.org/news/2024-03-07/garland-police-arrest-23-people-protesting-weapons-manufacturer-over-israel-gaza-conflict
...Several musicians have cancelled appearances at this year's SXSW Music Festival in Austin for similar reasons: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/sxsw-2024-music-protest-18705591.php
The expected rightward lurch in the Republican-dominated Texas House next year will be "disastrous": https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/election/2024/article/texas-house-gop-18707525.php
The State Board of Education is also being yanked to the right: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/06/texas-sboe-board-education-election-votes/
The "battle for Texas' soul" appears to have gone badly: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2024/03/06/if-2024-primary-was-a-battle-for-texas-soul-then-were-in-trouble/
Uvalde parents erupt in grief and anger as local police are exonerated of wrongdoing by a new investigation: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/uvalde-parents-lash-out-after-new-report-clears-city-police-of-wrongdoing-during-2022-mass-shooting
Republican resistance to Austin Rep. Greg Casar's Connect The Grid Act is expected today: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/texas-ercot-national-grid-18709390.php
Thanks to all of our Amplify Austin Day donors! We can't do it without you: https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute
March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas
Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Amplify Austin Day 2024 is on through 6pm Thursday night! Most solid news is behind paywalls, while misinformation and propaganda are usually free. Help us keep our solid reporting accessible with a donation of ANY amount - thank you! https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute
Progress Texas endorsee Julie Johnson is set to make history by becoming the first openly LGBTQ member of the U.S. Congress, not only from Texas but from the entire South: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4510622-julie-johnson-poised-for-victory-in-texas-primary-set-to-be-first-lgbtq-congress-member-from-the-south/
Lauren Ashley Simmons goes to a runoff against embattled HD-146 Rep. Shawn Thierry - we look forward to pushing her to victory: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/05/shawn-thierry-houston-democrat-primary-legislature-simmons/
Congrats and thanks to all of our primary endorsees: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progressive-wins-and-losses-texas-super-tuesday-primary
Many other Democratic runoff elections set for May 28: https://apps.texastribune.org/features/2024/primary-election-results-2024/
Many more GOP runoffs, main event being Dade Phelan vs David Covey: https://apnews.com/article/paxton-texas-primary-revenge-abbott-phelan-3d991ae09585726f98c515455b015a3e
Ted Cruz learns lessons from his near-miss with Beto O'Rourke and will come out swinging early against Colin Allred: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/06/colin-allred-ted-cruz/
Texas Supreme Court Justice John Devine barely avoids a runoff and now faces Democrat Christine Weems: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/05/john-devine-brian-walker-texas-supreme-court-primary/
Mineral Wells GOP Rep. Glenn Rogers, run out of a job by Governor Abbott's voucher crusade, rails against Republican corruption: https://mwareanews.com/2024/03/06/glenn-rogers-pens-response-to-election-loss/
Republican turncoat Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson is super proud to announce he voted for Donald Trump on Tuesday: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/03/06/dallas-mayor-eric-johnson-says-he-voted-for-donald-trump-for-president/
The State Of The Union Address is tonight at 8 - and you can play along with our SOTU Bingo Cards! Grab 'em here: https://progresstexas.org/blog/bingo-win-big-biden%E2%80%99s-state-union
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Women's History Month, hit our web store, and help us continue our important election year work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Complete election results coverage by the Texas Tribune: https://apps.texastribune.org/features/2024/primary-election-results-2024/
The campaigns of retribution against members of their own party by Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton pay dividends: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/06/texas-primaries-gop-incumbents-defeated/
Incumbent GOP Houston Rep. Lacey Hull survives a primary challenge by Jared Woodfill, backed by Paxton and other GOP biggies in spite of his current involvement with an ongoing sex abuse scandal and lawsuit: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/06/texas-primaries-gop-incumbents-defeated/
Travis County D.A. Jose Garza cruises to victory over a challenger enjoying billionaire support, Republican crossover voting and a dark money smear campaign: https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2024-03-06/jose-garza-wins-democratic-primary-in-contentious-district-attorney-race/
Embattled Harris County D.A. Kim Ogg goes down in flames: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/kim-ogg-harris-county-district-attorney-18702783.php
...Dramatically: https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/05/politics/texas-voter-id-kim-ogg-houston/index.html
Progress Texas Executive Director weighs in on the GOP civil war: "The R stands for revenge": https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/what-republicans-primary-civil-war-means-for-the-future-of-texas-18754975
Progress Texas sends our condolences to the family and friends of Zeb Smith, the Fritch, Texas volunteer fire chief who died in the line of duty yesterday: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/06/us/texas-panhandle-fires.html
Amplify Austin Day for this year starts at 6pm tonight and continues thru the same time Thursday night! No donation is too small: https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Women's History Month and hit our web store: https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Last chance for YOUR voice to be heard in the 2024 primary! Polls are open across the state until 7pm: https://progresstexas.org/
...Our Democratic primary endorsees: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/happy-hour-145-meet-our-progress-texas-primary-endorsees
...Wednesday at 9am, see the Texas Tribune's "Breaking Down The 2024 Texas Primary Results": https://breakingdownthe2024txprimary.splashthat.com/mar-com-email
...Which fish are YOU gonna be? Be one of the big ones: https://apps.texastribune.org/features/2024/fraction-of-texans-vote-in-primaries/
...Texas Democrats have been particularly disinterested in the primary, for several reasons: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-primary-elections-2024-turnout-low/
...Meanwhile the Republicans have more of a sideshow to keep them interested: https://www.kut.org/politics/2024-03-04/texas-house-election-abbott-paxton-races-republican-primary-endorsements-campaign-contributions
Ted Cruz is trying to maneuver himself into a "kingmaker" role at the U.S. Senate as Mitch McConnell steps down: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4502179-senate-conservatives-seek-to-expand-power-post-mcconnell/#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17096117474272&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fhomenews%2Fsenate%2F4502179-senate-conservatives-seek-to-expand-power-post-mcconnell%2F
SCOTUS places a temporary pause on SB-4, Texas' controversial new immigration law, until next Wednesday the 13th: https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/04/politics/texas-immigration-law-supreme-court-appeal/index.html
Texas-based anti-abortion activists have been meddling in local ordinances in New Mexico, drawing the ire of that state's Attorney General: https://sourcenm.com/2024/03/04/texas-activists-pushed-abortion-restrictions-in-nm-cities-and-counties-records-show/
A cause of the historic Panhandle wildfires may have been pinpointed: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/courts/2024/03/04/texas-wildfire-panhandle-lawsuit/
...While California Governor Gavin Newsom mobilizes his state's firefighting forces to help in Texas: https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/03/04/texas-wildfire-deployment/
The 2024 Amplify Austin Day charity and non-profit fundraiser starts tomorrow night at 6! Support Progress Texas here: https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute
Women's History Month is here and there's lots to do to celebrate across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/trailblazing-texan-women
Thanks for listening! Learn all about what we do and how to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Poor turnout by Democrats in the early voting phase of the 2024 primary causes the overall turnout to fall well short of 2020: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/03/early-voting-turnout-2024-primaries/
...Republicans outpaced Democrats in early voting turnout three to one: https://www.kxan.com/news/your-local-election-hq/march-2024-turnout-tracker/
...One high-profile Democratic item, the Travis County District Attorney's race, features a shadowy PAC smearing incumbent D.A. Jose Garza: https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2024/03/04/jose-garza-jeremy-sylestine-travis-county
Texas lawmakers in D.C. are scrambling to claim support for in-vitro fertilization, while supporting an extreme bill that would largely outlaw it nationally as written: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/03/04/texas-republicans-face-questions-about-life-at-conception-bill-after-alabama-ivf-decision/
One Texas State lawmaker - a Republican who voted against school vouchers - now wants to abolish the Texas Education Agency: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/education/2024/03/03/texas-schools-lawmaker-says-abolish-tea-education-experts-weigh-in/72499627007/
Still no word from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on the state appeal of a federal judge's blocking of SB-4, which was set to take effect tomorrow: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2024/03/04/texas-sb-4-immigration-law-predictably-fails-its-first-legal-test/
...That same ruling says that the recent wave of migrants cannot be considered by Texas an "invasion": https://reason.com/volokh/2024/03/01/federal-court-rejects-texass-argument-that-illegal-migration-qualifies-as-invasion/
Ken Paxton's office's attempts to force a trans-friendly non-profit to hand over records of young trans kids it has supported has also been blocked: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/03/us/texas-paxton-transgender-records.html
Governor Abbott draws online fire for hanging out at the border with Donald Trump while historically-destructive wildfires burn in the Panhandle: https://www.newsweek.com/greg-abbotts-priorities-questioned-record-wildfires-intensify-texas-1875388
...Those fires rage on, with very little containment: https://apnews.com/article/texas-wildfire-panhandle-hutchinson-united-way-donations-d61f26c6686ae62e855bd2075453651b
Women's History Month is here and there's lots to do to celebrate across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/trailblazing-texan-women
The annual Amplify Austin charity and non-profit fundraiser happens Wednesday thru Thursday: https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute
Thanks for listening! Learn all about what we do and how to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Lawyers for Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza have issued a cease-and-desist order against a shadowy group that has financed an egregious and foul hit campaign against Garza, apparently without proper legal arrangement as a political action committee - all to benefit his opponent, who is known to be backed by benefactors who typically fund Republican candidates. We've invited District Attorney Garza on to tell us what he's learned.
Learn more about District Attorney Jose Garza at https://www.joseforda.com/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Upwards of 1.2 million Texans have voted so far in the primary, with only today and Super Tuesday remaining: https://www.kxan.com/news/your-local-election-hq/march-2024-turnout-tracker/
New polling from UT Tyler shows Ted Cruz and Colin Allred tied at 41%: https://t.co/4LBcQuPneA
President Biden spoke in Brownsville yesterday: https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2024/03/01/san-antonio-mayor-ron-nirenberg-joins-president-biden-other-south-texas-mayors-in-brownsville/
Donald Trump's simultaneous event in Eagle Pass, meanwhile, may have seen a violation of military uniform code: https://x.com/AdamKinzinger/status/1763351232574296525?t=jhQRSFzH2g9SMCxd6IXdoQ&s=03
...Trump says Governor Abbott is on his "short list" of VP candidates: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/29/greg-abbott-donald-trump-vice-president/
...While a Trump win will mean billions in losses for Texas: https://www.newsweek.com/texas-will-lose-billions-investment-donald-trump-elected-2024-1874806
...As the Governor muses on building a wall around "Liberal Austin": https://www.newsweek.com/greg-abbott-discusses-building-border-wall-around-liberal-austin-1874711
A federal judge blocks Tuesday's implementation of SB-4, but the state immediately appeals to the 5th Circuit: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/federal-judge-issues-preliminary-injunction-on-senate-bill-4
Amanda Zurawski is honored by USA Today: https://www.statesman.com/picture-gallery/news/2024/02/29/amanda-zurawski-usa-today-texas-women-of-the-year/72165054007/
...As Starr County's DA is penalized by the State Bar of Texas for allowing a murder charge to be filed against a woman for a self-managed abortion: https://www.yahoo.com/news/texas-prosecutor-fined-allowing-murder-220351899.html
That massive wildfire - the biggest in state history - is looking likely to keep growing over the weekend: https://abcnews.go.com/US/texas-panhandle-wildfires-weather-forecast/story?id=107667285
Ken Paxton is suing the State Fair of Texas and two Dallas-area live music venues for refusing to allow off-duty cops inside with their guns: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-sues-state-fair-factory-deep-ellum-texas-trust-cu-theatre-grand-prairie/287-65b07f32-49a1-48ca-92e9-5511c9038ba2
...While a trove of insider details on the Paxton impeachment is dumped by the Texas Senate: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/28/ken-paxton-impeachment-witness-testimony/
Charles Butt of H.E.B. fame is donating heavily to seven of the anti-voucher lawmakers being targeted by Governor Abbott: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/heb-school-voucher-pac-18696002.php
Saturday is Texas Independence Day! Learn the REAL story of the Texas Revolution with the terrific book Forget The Alamo: https://a.co/d/f0CkIcS
And, today is the first day of Women's History Month: https://progresstexas.org/blog/trailblazing-texan-women
Early giving is underway for this year's Amplify Austin fundraising push: https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute
Thanks for listening! Hit our web store and other ways to support our work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Only today, tomorrow and Tuesday remain to vote in the 2024 primary: https://www.kxan.com/news/your-local-election-hq/march-2024-turnout-tracker/
...Crossover voting is not the clever idea you might think it is, for several reasons: https://progresstexas.org/blog/elephant-room-crossover-voting
...While U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez may have done some meddling with his GOP opposition: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/27/vicente-gonzalez-mayra-flores-primary-election/
President Biden speaks in Brownsville today, as Donald Trump visits the stage set in Eagle Pass: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/27/vicente-gonzalez-mayra-flores-primary-election/
...While SB-4 is set to take effect on Tuesday: https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2024/0228/Tough-Texas-immigration-law-nears.-Residents-have-questions
Texas DPS Director Steve McCraw testified before a Uvalde grand jury yesterday on potential charges against police officers who botched the Robb Elementary response: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/28/texas-uvalde-shooting-grand-jury-steve-mccraw/
With Mitch McConnell stepping down as U.S. Senate GOP Leader, John Cornyn appears set to try for the post: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/28/texas-john-cornyn-mitch-mcconnell/
The wildfires in the Panhandle have ballooned into the second-worst in Texas history: https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/29/us/texas-panhandle-smokehouse-creek-fire-thursday/index.html
As Texas executes a man whose guilt was in doubt, capital punishment supporters must consider that they either have 100% faith in our justice system, or they're okay with the State occasionally killing innocent people: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/convicted-murderer-ivan-cantu-executed-in-texas/
Thanks for listening! Progress Texas is seeking to add 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive - we'd appreciate the support: https://progresstexas.org/donate
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Republicans continue to outdistance Democrats in primary early voting turnout: https://www.kxan.com/news/your-local-election-hq/march-2024-turnout-tracker/
Progressives need to understand the threat posed by "Project 25": https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/27/trump-second-term-cpac-democracy-threat-extremism
...While Dallas U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett points out that Christian Nationalism is inconsistent with traditional Christianity: https://x.com/RepJasmine/status/1762540717140779152?t=660LLiAZJXPZv6pGh-l2wA&s=03
...And a Houston megachurch pastor goes on an anti-migrant tear: https://www.chron.com/culture/religion/article/ed-young-anti-immigration-sermon-18692233.php
...And while most Americans reject Christian Nationalism, those numbers are weaker in Red states: https://www.axios.com/2024/02/28/poll-christian-nationalism-americans-reject
At Ken Paxton's bidding, a federal judge in Lubbock undermines new protections for pregnant workers: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/federal-judge-texas-rules-congressional-passage-2022-spending-bill-unc-rcna140829
The policies leading to Darryl George's plight at Barbers Hill ISD are based on the marginalization of non-white students: https://theconversation.com/a-texas-court-ruling-on-a-black-student-wearing-hair-in-long-locs-reflects-history-of-racism-in-schools-223250
A new produced water processing site has been approved by the Texas Railroad Commission - right next to a church camp: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/26/texas-permian-basin-oilfield-waste-ponds-baptist-camp/
The Pantex facility - the country's primary development and maintenance location for nuclear weapons - is threatened by Panhandle wildfires: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2024/02/28/key-nuclear-weapons-plant-forced-to-pause-operations-due-to-texas-wildfires/
Three Texas filmmakers contribute to a new HBO documentary series on Huntsville, Houston and El Paso: https://slate.com/culture/2024/02/god-save-texas-hbo-documentary-hometown-prison-richard-linklater.html
Thanks for listening! Progress Texas is seeking to add 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive - we'd appreciate the support: https://progresstexas.org/donate
In the Crane County oil patch, a recent catastrophic spill of produced water, a toxic byproduct of the petroleum extraction process, has brought to the forefront the threat this stuff poses to groundwater across Texas. In this election year, it also highlights the worsening of that threat resulting from the chronic mismanagement and public obfuscation regarding produced water by the Texas Railroad Commission, the elected, three-member body supposedly in charge of keeping Texas' environment safe in the midst of our all-time high petroleum production, but in reality known as largely a rubber stamp for whatever policy and procedure our state's energy sector finds most expedient and profitable.
On this episode, we talk to Bill Burch, petroleum expert and Progress Texas-endorsed candidate for the Texas Railroad Commission, as well as Alex Ortiz, Water Resources Chair of the Sierra Club's Lone Star Chapter on the Crane County produced water spill, the ramifications this gross stuff and its management have for our environmental future, and how the Commission should be held accountable.
Learn more about Bill Burch and his campaign at https://burch4trrc.com/, and learn more about the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club at https://www.sierraclub.org/texas.
Find the Houston Chronicle's editorial endorsement of President Biden's pause of new LNG approvals at https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/biden-lng-export-trump-election-18680419.php.
Thanks for listening! Please consider becoming one of our 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Primary early voting turnout continues to trickle, with Republican turnout still doubling that of Texas Democrats: https://www.kxan.com/news/your-local-election-hq/march-2024-turnout-tracker/
...Republicans are voting for or against notorious anti-abortion activist judge John Devine of the Texas Supreme Court: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/27/john-devine-texas-supreme-court-conservatives/
President Biden and Donald Trump will stage competing Texas border appearances on Thursday: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/26/donald-trump-joe-biden-texas-border-eagle-pass/
...While the border fiasco can largely be attributed to Governor Greg Abbott's ego and ambition: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/human-toll-greg-abbott-border-war-eagle-pass-1234975140/
The Houston Chronicle's editorial board endorses President Biden's pause on LNG approvals: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/biden-lng-export-trump-election-18680419.php
...While on Sunday, over 80% of the electricity on the Texas grid came from non-carbon-emitting sources: https://www.kut.org/energy-environment/2024-02-26/more-than-80-of-electricity-on-the-texas-grid-was-carbon-free-at-one-point-sunday
...And our friends at Environment Texas are hiring: https://jobs.publicinterestnetwork.org/en/postings/0fca1554-3310-4154-945b-ea334b3de46b
The U.S. Supreme Court seems likely to send a lawsuit over supposed censorship of conservative propaganda by social media platforms back to lower courts: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/26/us/politics/supreme-court-social-media-takeaways.html
U.S. Rep Colin Allred has invited Dallas OB/GYN Dr. Austin Dennard, a Texas mother forced to flee the state for vital abortion care, to attend the State Of The Union address as his guest: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/02/25/rep-colin-allred-invites-dallas-doctor-who-fled-state-for-abortion-to-state-of-the-union/
On the cusp of Women's History Month in March, Texas ranks very low on a new ranking of quality of life for women: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-among-top-5-worst-states-for-women-in-2024-report-finds/3471845/
Thanks for listening! Progress Texas is seeking to add 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive - we'd appreciate the support: https://progresstexas.org/donate
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Early voting primary turnout still skews 2-1 Republican - and over 80% voters over 50 on both sides: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/columns/2024/02/25/texas-primary-election-young-voters-voices-older-the-voter-the-louder-the-voice/72684410007/
Ken Paxton's crusade against three Texas Court of Criminal Appeals judges isn't just about his desire to prosecute election fraud cases - it's also about the court that's likely to finally decide his own felony securities fraud case: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/podcasts/texas-take/
...Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is bullish that Governor Abbott's crusade against anti-voucher GOP lawmakers will be successful: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/texas-school-voucher-dan-patrick-lieutenant-governor-thinks-pro-voucher-republicans-will-win-texas/287-622cd1df-ad72-4cc7-8a69-b0def2a004a5
...And State Board of Education races threaten to drag that body further to the right, just in time for important social studies decisions: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/elections/state/2024/02/25/texas-primary-election-state-board-of-education-races-to-watch-district-10-11-12/72682107007/
Governor Abbott admits he knows little about in-vitro fertilization, even as that procedure is threatened by his own abortion bans: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/abbott-texas-ivf-1234975280/
...The Governor also won't pledge to protect IVF in Texas: https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/25/politics/texas-ivf-alabama-law-abbott/index.html
...While GOP candidates are doing all they can to avoid talking about abortion: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/abortion-republicans-primaries-18651768.php
...And Jim Hightower draws a parallel between anti-abortion "extraterritoriality" in Texas to laws designed to protect slavery: https://www.juancole.com/2024/02/abortion-extremists-slavery.html
Progress for renewable energy in Texas as huge amounts of battery storage are set to come online this year: https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/energy-storage/texas-will-add-more-grid-batteries-than-any-other-state-in-2024
We congratulate Salem United Methodist Church in Orange, one of the largest Black churches in Southeast Texas, as they mark their 159th anniversary: https://www.12newsnow.com/article/news/local/one-of-southeast-texas-oldest-black-churches-celebrates-159-anniversary/502-88e0f240-dbb1-4095-b9a7-d0e4168a98fb
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! Progress Texas has a full schedule of events to follow: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-african-american-arts-and-artisans-black-history-month
Thanks for listening! Progress Texas is seeking to add 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive - we'd appreciate the support: https://progresstexas.org/donate
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Democratic turnout in early primary voting continues to lag, especially in Harris and Bexar counties: https://www.kxan.com/news/your-local-election-hq/march-2024-turnout-tracker/
Alabama's Supreme Court ruling that embryos are to be considered children has hopeful moms like Amanda Zurawski taking pre-emptive action with their frozen embryos: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/woman-suing-texas-abortion-ban-plans-move-embryos-state-rcna140134
A Republican judge sides with Barbers Hill ISD, allowing it to continue punishing student Darryl George over his traditional hairstyle, in spite of the CROWN Act: https://newrepublic.com/post/179217/texas-judge-school-punish-black-student-hair-race
Several law enforcement officers who failed to react quickly during the Robb Elementary mass shooting in Uvalde have been called before a grand jury next week: https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/22/us/uvalde-school-shooting-texas-police/index.html
Citing a packed schedule, the Texas Department of Health and Human Services has passed on $450 million in federal aid to help feed kids at risk of hunger during the summer: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/22/texas-federal-summer-lunch-program/
The U.S. Supreme Court will take up a fight between the major social media platforms and the AG's of Texas and Florida over the platforms' right to remove misinformation: https://www.npr.org/2024/02/22/1197962135/first-amendment-scotus-social-media
The hard-hitting Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel has blasted Governor Abbott over his "lies and half-truths" in his campaign to replace House GOP members refusing his school voucher efforts: https://www.newsweek.com/texas-newspaper-turns-greg-abbott-spewing-lies-1872430
Dallas U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett has invited to the upcoming State Of The Union Address the widow of a Dallas mail carrier who died on the job during last summer's heat wave: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/02/22/widow-of-dallas-postal-worker-who-died-in-2023-heat-wave-to-attend-state-of-the-union/
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! Progress Texas has a full schedule of events to follow: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-african-american-arts-and-artisans-black-history-month
Thanks for listening! Progress Texas is seeking to add 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive - we'd appreciate the support: https://progresstexas.org/donate
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Republican turnout doubled that of Democrats in Texas on the first day of early primary voting: https://www.kxan.com/news/your-local-election-hq/march-2024-turnout-tracker/
...While officials in Tarrant County end a years-long program providing free rides to the polls on Election Day: https://www.fox4news.com/news/tarrant-county-free-bus-rides-election-day
Governor Abbott and AG Paxton's campaign against GOP incumbents continues inflaming vitriol within the party: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/21/glenn-rogers-texas-gop-primary/
...Donald Trump continues meddling as well: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/trumps-join-paxtons-push-to-defeat-some-of-texas-top-conservative-judges/
A trial on the school suspension of Darryl George over his cultural hairstyle, seemingly in defiance of the CROWN Act, is scheduled for today: https://apnews.com/article/hair-discrimination-school-locs-texas-trial-4a1c3ec2ff85da27ffb2118f9fc55007
...Protestors demonstrated in favor of George near the home of Barbers Hill ISD's superintendent in Baytown yesterday: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/protesters-gather-texas-superintendent-darryl-george-hair-trial-rcna139640
Another gun incident in a Texas school sees police fire off 19 rounds, but luckily no deaths: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2024/02/20/officers-fired-19-shots-at-student-who-brought-gun-to-mesquite-school-student-didnt-fire/?sailthru_id=62680c814f757f64bada988b&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=BreakingAlert_02202024&utm_term=Breaking%20News
Austin Congressman Greg Casar was in Austin yesterday touting his Connect The Grid Act: https://progresstexas.org/blog/power-people-connecting-texas-grid
Bell County declares an emergency in advance of huge crowds expected for April's eclipse: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/texas-county-issues-state-of-emergency-over-solar-eclipse/
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! Progress Texas has a full schedule of events to follow: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-african-american-arts-and-artisans-black-history-month
Thanks for listening! Progress Texas is seeking to add 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive - we'd appreciate the support: https://progresstexas.org/donate
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
As primary voting begins, a review for progressives of why gun safety reform is so bogged down in Texas: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/mass-shootings-in-texas-have-shaped-the-democratic-primaries-18642421
In the Republican primary, Collin County will serve as a test of Ken Paxton's ability to sway voters: https://www.nbcdfw.com/decision-2024/collin-county-is-frontline-for-emotional-texas-house-primary-elections/3467634/
...That said, Governor Abbott is backing incumbents Paxton has targeted: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/in-n-texas-governor-abbott-ag-paxton-back-different-candidates-in-gop-primaries/
...And Donald Trump has his greasy hands in the soup too: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2024/02/20/trump-throws-weight-behind-rivals-of-four-texas-republicans-who-crossed-abbott-and-paxton/
...The picture of an even-more-radical GOP House majority is none too pretty: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-house-radical-republican/
...While a majority of Texas voters expect a violent election outcome this fall: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-02-20/most-texas-voters-think-violence-will-erupt-after-2024-election
Ken Paxton has targeted an NGO that has operated migrant shelters in El Paso for decades: https://kvia.com/news/border/2024/02/20/texas-attorney-general-sues-el-pasos-annunciation-house-for-efforts-to-facilitate-illegal-immigration/
...While the private prison industry is booming amidst a new crackdown on migrants: https://www.newsweek.com/texas-border-immigration-surge-geo-group-profits-detention-ethics-reform-bill-opposition-1871731
Texas anti-abortion activists, apparently bored, are targeting a new art installation at the University of Houston: https://www.chron.com/culture/religion/article/university-houston-satanic-statue-18677691.php
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! Progress Texas has a full schedule of events to follow: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-african-american-arts-and-artisans-black-history-month
Thanks for listening! Progress Texas is seeking to add 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive - we'd appreciate the support: https://progresstexas.org/donate
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
New polling results as primary voting opens from UT Austin: https://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/blog/new-uttexas-politics-project-poll-primary-voting-begins-texans-see-crisis-border
A pro-voucher campaign stop in Cleburne by Governor Greg Abbott is under-attended compared to an event the same day for the anti-voucher incumbent: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/state/texas-news/gov-greg-abbott-north-texas-campaign-against-fellow-republican-voted-no-voucher-proposal/287-ae6a0aa9-0915-4f75-8643-55c1eda032bf
The Houston Chronicle endorses President Biden for re-election, somehow surprising MAGA types: https://www.newsweek.com/houston-chronicle-endorse-biden-texas-trump-maga-1871423
Public school supporters are reminded of the importance of primary voting: https://www.expressnews.com/opinion/commentary/article/education-public-voting-ballot-primaries-18667618.php
Moderate San Antonio Republican Tony Gonzales is beset this primary round from his right: https://sanantonioreport.org/tony-gonzales-texas-gop-primary/
Also important in the primary, a vote for Bill Burch for Texas Railroad Commission: https://www.expressnews.com/business/article/texas-railroad-commission-election-2024-18676066.php
Heartbreaking video covers a Texas woman's forced trip out of state to locate vitally-needed abortion care: https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/pregnant-texas-woman-travels-cross-country-abortion-care-107357968
A coalition of civil rights groups are spreading the word and organizing protests in regard to SB-4, the new immigration law set to take effect next month: https://www.ktep.org/ktep-news/2024-02-16/civil-rights-organizations-launch-statewide-know-your-rights-campaign-to-prepare-for-texas-immigration-law-sb4
A political veteran who has worked with both George W. Bush and Ann Richards writes on the Texas GOP's descent into the "MAGA abyss": https://www.vanityfair.com/news/how-did-texas-slip-into-the-maga-abyss
Texas secessionist blowhards see attempts to connect the Texas power grid to national grids as an attack on their independence efforts: https://www.newsweek.com/texas-nationalists-rage-power-grid-plans-1871202
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! Progress Texas has a full schedule of events to follow: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-african-american-arts-and-artisans-black-history-month
Thanks for listening! Progress Texas is seeking to add 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive - we'd appreciate the support: https://progresstexas.org/donate
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
New interviews with U.S. Representative Colin Allred and State Senator Roland Gutierrez, plus the guy both want to take on, Ted Cruz: https://www.kxan.com/state-of-texas/state-of-texas-questions-for-candidates-hoping-to-challenge-cruz/
South Houston Democratic State House Rep. Shawn Thierry, under fire for her votes inconsistent with Democratic priorities, drops a homophobic bomb on her chances for an endorsement from the Houston Chronicle: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/houston-thierry-simmons-endorsement-18672516.php
Another hot Democratic primary in the race for Harris County District Attorney: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/16/harris-county-district-attorney-primary-2024/
Ken Paxton fails to delay or derail his felony securities trial - it will begin in Houston on April 15: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/16/attorney-general-ken-paxton-securities-fraud-indictment-trial/
...While Paxton targets three Texas Court of Criminal Appeals judges who dared oppose his plan to single-handedly challenge Texas election results: https://www.keranews.org/criminal-justice/2024-02-15/attorney-general-ken-paxton-texas-court-of-criminal-appeals
Governor Abbott is laying plans for a permanent 80-acre Texas National Guard base near Eagle Pass: https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2024/02/18/texas-gov-abbott-eagle-pass-base-ctmwknd-vpx.cnn
...While a Democratic win in suburban NYC may indicate that the border may not be the slam-dunk issue that Republicans are banking on: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2024/02/18/us-mexico-border-will-be-democrats-death-knell-in-2024-right-perhaps-not/72632584007/
A series of earthquakes southeast of San Antonio appears to be strengthening: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/17/texas-earthquake-san-antonio
A Carrolton high school chemistry teacher sees a positive public rally of support after his school district removed him from the classroom over videos of him wearing women's clothing: https://nypost.com/2024/02/17/us-news/texas-teacher-on-leave-after-cross-dressing-video-goes-viral/
A new state law, designed to ensure professional credentials on the bench, is being weaponized against two Black female judge candidates: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/article/seo-new-texas-law-brings-new-hurdles-black-women-18667868.php
Texas' DEI bans at state university campuses is being seen as a preview of what's to come nationally, should Republicans do well in November: https://apnews.com/article/texas-university-diversity-ban-dei-46e4b6193abe27b6abbdffcd1945cf38
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! Progress Texas has a full schedule of events to follow: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-african-american-arts-and-artisans-black-history-month
Thanks for listening! Progress Texas is seeking to add 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive - we'd appreciate the support: https://progresstexas.org/donate
Early voting in the Democratic primary starts on Tuesday February 20th, and Progress Texas has selected FIVE more terrific candidates whom we think deserve your vote!
In addition to Texas State Senator Roland Gutierrez, whom we have endorsed in his run for the Democratic nomination to face Ted Cruz for Texas' junior U.S. Senate seat...
(2:00) We endorse State Representative Julie Johnson(HD 115) for Texas’ 32nd Congressional District. In the highly contested race for Colin Allred’s seat, with several strong candidates, Johnson’s record as a lawyer and lawmaker stands out, championing women, workers, and LGBTQ+ Texans. Johnson turned HD 115 red to blue back in 2018, and has the experience to turn the tables in Washington D.C., to make the government work for us on reproductive justice, gun violence protection, and affordable healthcare. https://juliejohnson.com/
(10:25) Michelle Vallejo is a small business owner and fierce community advocate from South Texas. In a rematch for TX-15, she will take back her historically blue district running on bringing down healthcare costs, securing good-paying jobs and a thriving economy, and protecting reproductive rights. This is a personal fight for her. Her mother, who passed away several years ago, was forced to travel to Mexico for healthcare due to lack of options here in Texas. https://www.michellefortx15.com/
(18:46) Sam Eppler is our choice for Texas Congressional District 24 in North Texas. The former math teacher and high school principal is the pro-democracy, economic growth, and public education champion his district needs to beat a MAGA extremist incumbent in November. A top priority of his is to provide a good education in a safe school to build a brighter future for everyone, in every zip code. https://sameppler.com/
(25:27) Bill Burch is a career engineer running for the Texas Railroad Commission. He will bring 23 years of energy industry experience—including time as an emergency responder for the Deepwater Horizon spill—expertise of sustainable energy practices, and a sense of integrity and accountability the agency is critically missing. https://burch4trrc.com/
(36:08) Lauren Ashley Simmons, a challenger running for Texas HD 146, is a mom and union organizer whose platform centers public education, universal and affordable healthcare, workers rights, and defending democracy. Her opponent, the current state representative, Rep. Shawn Thierry, votes with Gov. Abbott to destroy our public schools. She’s also faced public scandals for voting with extremists to attack LGBTQ+ Texans, and creating “abusive” work environments. In contrast, Simmons is a black, queer woman, who will fight for those who are tired, frustrated, and who feel unheard by the people who are supposed to be serving them. https://www.laurenashleysimmons.com/
Thanks for listening! Throughout February, Progress Texas is seeking to add a total of 29 new recurring donors to our lineup - one per day this leap month! Learn more at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
We salute the Texas U.S. House Representatives who voted against GOP efforts to overturn President Biden's pause on new liquid natural gas approvals: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-vote-bill-reverse-bidens-lng-pause-2024-02-15/
A federal judge in Austin, hearing the State's argument for the new migrant crackdown law SB-4, expresses skepticism: https://www.kut.org/politics/2024-02-15/texas-senate-bill-4-invasion-claim-immigration-law-hearing
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, under Governor Abbott's direction, are considering a pardon for Daniel Perry, convicted last year of murder in the death of Black Lives Matter protestor Garrett Foster: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/local/2024/02/15/daniel-perry-pardon-review-murder-black-lives-matter-protester-garrett-foster-austin-texas/72611557007/
Democrat-turned-Republican Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson's wife, amidst their divorce, alleges an affair by Johnson with a Dallas City staffer: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/dallas-texas-mayor-eric-johnson-confirms-divorce-amid-affair-allegations-report/287-f9dcb725-1ce0-4523-b3a4-eb637e7063c6
Progress Texas endorses Lauren Ashley Simmons in her primary challenge to sitting Democratic Texas House Rep. Shawn Thierry, and here's why: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/15/shawn-thierry-houston-democratic-primary-lgbtq-vote/
Progress Texas endorses Sam Eppler in his run to take on MAGA darling U.S. Rep. Beth Van Duyne, and here's a small part of why: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4469939-texas-republican-says-cnn-anchor-wanted-to-lecture-her/
Houston's homeless outreach Food Not Bombs gets permission to keep operating on public property, but now faces steep sanitation bonds - Houston progressives, learn how to help here: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/houston-texas-feeding-homeless-food-not-bombs-ruling/285-94152347-2de8-43ac-8100-407be7b4c379#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17080842588652&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.khou.com%2Farticle%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Fhouston-texas-feeding-homeless-food-not-bombs-ruling%2F285-94152347-2de8-43ac-8100-407be7b4c379
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! Progress Texas has a full schedule of events to follow: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-african-american-arts-and-artisans-black-history-month
Thanks for listening! Progress Texas is seeking to add 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive - we'd appreciate the support: https://progresstexas.org/donate
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Two more Democratic primary endorsements have been added to our list: Michelle Vallejo in the run for Congressional District 15, and Bill Burch for the Texas Railroad Commission: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-endorsements-march-primaries
Austin U.S. Rep. Greg Casar takes the lead on a new bill requiring Texas to connect our power grid to neighboring grids: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas/democrats-introduce-bill-connect-texas-to-national-grids/287-ceba36b1-508a-4b2c-8f82-a090fbf1a63f
...While Texas continues to shatter renewable energy records: https://cleantechnica.com/2024/02/14/texas-shatters-own-solar-power-record-weird-political-situation-or-not/
A huge court hearing today regarding Texas' new immigration law SB-4, and whether to allow it to take effect next month: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/15/us/texas-border-law-challenge-explainer.html
...While even our soldiers at the border see through Governor Abbott's cosplay: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/texas-operation-lone-star-border-national-guard-soldiers_n_65c4f0dce4b093b2e782abd8
As over a million Texas kids from low income families are booted from Medicaid coverage, a massive backlog of benefits applications has built up: https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2024-02-16/after-a-million-texas-kids-were-kicked-off-medicaid-thousands-more-are-still-in-limbo/
Republicans who held the line on school vouchers find themselves in the crosshairs of misinformation twisting their votes: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/election/2024/article/republicans-voucher-ads-18666959.php
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! Progress Texas has a full schedule of events to follow: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-african-american-arts-and-artisans-black-history-month
Progress Texas is seeking to add 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive - we'd appreciate the support: https://progresstexas.org/donate
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas this Valentine's Day:
Less than a week from early voting, we're shoveling our love onto three more Texas progressive primary candidates, the support of whom we consider vital for continued progress in our state: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-endorsements-march-primaries
...While we're all warm and fuzzy, have a look and Join The Movement with a great rundown of our favorite Texas civic organizations: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progressive-organizations-working-make-texas-better-place-2024
House Speaker Dade Phelan's wife was accosted by his political opponents at the Phelan home in Beaumont this week: https://www.12newsnow.com/article/news/crime/men-accused-of-accosting-dade-phelan-wife-beaumont-home/502-dbb22413-4b6f-4d80-9d45-ce4b3b705ac5
A North Texas couple, convicted of various crimes connected to Jan. 6, think Trump should be charged as well (and we agree): https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/national/capitol-riots/texas-couple-who-said-they-shouldnt-be-prosecuted-if-trump-wasnt-convicted-of-assaulting-police-on-jan-6-mark-jalise-middleton/65-f2895db3-2b6f-4cad-8088-e313e6ae9d05
John Cornyn and Ken Paxton are having a public tiff over Cornyn's support for America's following through with our commitments to our allies abroad: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4465233-cornyn-blasts-texas-ag-paxton/
How Sunday's Houston church shooter, having documented mental health issues and an extensive criminal record, was able to arm herself for the attack remains a mystery: https://apnews.com/article/church-shooting-joel-osteen-texas-firearms-89c8b72d00c5a1f924907e0d5a85a8ea
...While right-wing crazies - including Elon Musk - attempt to frame the shooting as "trans terrorism": https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7bnna/lakewood-church-shooting-houston-far-right-misinformation-claiming-suspect-transgender
...Throughout her criminal documentation, she's identified as a cisgender female, never as transgender: https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-houston-texas-church-shooter-transgender-641478749917
We've been talking about Jimmy, John and Jane recently - John Devine, turns out, inappropriately failed to recuse himself from a high-profile sex abuse case involving prior employers: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/13/texas-supreme-court-john-devine-paul-pressler-jared-woodfill/
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! Progress Texas has a full schedule of events to follow: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-african-american-arts-and-artisans-black-history-month
Progress Texas is seeking to add 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive - we'd appreciate the support: https://progresstexas.org/donate
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Neighbors of the woman who fired shots inside Joel Osteen's Houston megachurch this weekend have been pleading for help from Conroe police regarding her aggressive behavior with guns for months: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-neighbors-said-tried-sound-alarm-houston-church-shooter-months-rcna138516
A Jewish Dallas City Council Member's home is attacked by vandals using pro-Palestinian symbols: https://www.wfaa.com/video/news/nation-world/israel-hamas-conflict/287-776472b9-75bb-41e2-bd15-65422e5ebb17
Coverage of the ongoing race to face Ted Cruz between U.S. Rep. Colin Allred and State Senator Roland Gutierrez: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/allred-gutierrez-spar-over-border-security-bipartisanship-in-democratic-primary-for-u-s-senate/
...While Cruz's new bill calling for additional security for politicians in airports makes its way through the Senate: https://newrepublic.com/post/178927/ted-cruz-bill-private-security-travel-airports-cancun
...And an even more "bruising" primary race between State Senator Nathan Johnson and State Rep. Victoria Neave Criado: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/elections/2024/02/13/2-dallas-democrats-in-bruising-primary-for-texas-senate-seat/
Backlash continues over those "He Gets Us" Super Bowl ads, tied to a Dallas ad agency: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/super-bowl-he-gets-us-18662897.php
...While Texas Monthly highlights oil billionaire Tim Dunn, who has also shoved Texas to the right via his checkbook: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/billionaire-tim-dunn-runs-texas/
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! Progress Texas has a full schedule of events to follow: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-african-american-arts-and-artisans-black-history-month
Check out our Valentine to our fellow Texas progressive political organizations, who deserve your attention and support: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progressive-organizations-working-make-texas-better-place-2024
Progress Texas is seeking to add 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive - we'd appreciate the support: https://progresstexas.org/donate
Following the disappointing (but unsurprising) outcome of the recent hearings at the Texas Supreme Court in regard to the Amanda Zurawski abortion rights case, you'll be pleased to know that two Texas women - one of our state's most fearsome progressive heavy hitters, and yet another mom whose life and health have been put in jeopardy by draconian Republican interference in medical practice - are taking action. We're proud to welcome veteran Texas politico and former Biden administration U.S. Air Force Undersecretary Gina Ortiz Jones, behind the exciting new Find Out PAC, and friend of the PAC and courageous Texas mother Lauren Miller, who are setting their determined sights on Texas Supreme Court justices Jimmy Blacklock, John Devine and Jane Bland, who are all up for re-election this year. Find Out PAC intends to teach these three what happens when you fuck around with Texans' reproductive freedom.
Check out Find Out PAC and their terrific new video materials, in both English and Spanish, at https://findoutpac.com/
For a refresher, the scientific research on what happens when one fucks around can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/shorts/WntjAM2wqF8.
Thanks for listening! Please consider joining our efforts to recruit 29 new recurring donors, one per day through this Leap Month of February, at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
An increase in teen pregnancies that followed Texas' abortion restrictions could become a national problem if Republicans are triumphant this fall: https://www.salon.com/2024/02/12/a-rise-in-texas-teen-pregnancies-could-foreshadow-national-trends-experts-warn/
...Progressives need to get familiar with the legal concept of "extraterritoriality" - the GOP push to enforce Texas culture-war laws outside our borders: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/09/texas-abortion-transgender-care-outside-state-borders/
...The direct connection between our state's stamping out of reproductive freedom and Donald Trump exists in attorney Jonathan Mitchell: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/08/us/elections/jonathan-mitchell-trump-ballot-case.html
A UT law professor says conditions at the border don't constitute an "invasion", but that Governor Abbott will continue arguing that they do: https://www.npr.org/2024/02/12/1230835881/texas-law-professor-says-influx-of-migrants-doesnt-meet-the-definition-of-invasi
...While Abbott's frequent border visits continue disrupting the peace of Eagle Pass: https://www.kxan.com/state-of-texas/state-of-texas-border-visits-fuel-frustrations-over-policy-failures/
...And Mexico "categorically rejects" SB-4, set to take effect next month: https://www.ketk.com/news/texas/mexican-government-says-it-rejects-texas-immigration-enforcement-bill/
...And SB-4, even before enactment, is already causing problems for Hispanic and Black Texans: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2024/02/12/how-sb-4-threatens-the-well-being-of-immigrant-families-in-texas/
...And there's shareable video on the current border situation on the border situation: https://twitter.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1756151249626701968?t=sovlW-I7P1kHIqw9EUuMbw&s=03
Last night's Super Bowl saw an ad for Robert F. Kennedy Jr that plagiarized his family's political legacy and was paid for by major Trump backers: https://x.com/SawyerHackett/status/1756858017268584684?t=zqL_kSEC-ZUHZPdIRdQ2KA&s=03
...And the Super Bowl ads for the "He Gets Us" Christian campaign were also bankrolled by nefarious Christian groups, including those backed by the founder of Hobby Lobby: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/11/us/he-gets-us-super-bowl-commercials-cec/index.html
Texas Monthly highlights seven terrible candidates (yes, one is a Democrat) on ballots across Texas: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-elections-2024-primary-fringe-candidates/
We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! Progress Texas has a full schedule of events to follow: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-african-american-arts-and-artisans-black-history-month
Progress Texas is seeking to add 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive - we'd appreciate the support: https://progresstexas.org/donate
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Despite a big reduction in migrant numbers, Governor Abbott vows to expand Operation Lone Star: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/immigration-texas-border-arizona-california-migrants/
...While, given the longtime cooperation of state and federal border patrols, recent conflicts between them are pure political theater: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/border-patrol-and-texas-troopers-got-along-once-what-happened/
Have your property taxes dropped? Ours neither: https://www.newsweek.com/texas-residents-blame-abbott-property-tax-increases-1867242
Former State Rep. Kyle Biedermann thinks former State Rep. Bryan Slaton's drunken, adulterous dalliance with a teenaged intern, which got him kicked out of the House, was no big deal: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/08/kyle-biedermann-bryan-slaton-texas-house/
Trump's lawyer at that U.S. Supreme Court sham yesterday was Jonathan Mitchell, architect of Texas' abortion "vigilante law": https://newrepublic.com/post/178869/trump-lawyer-mitchell-supreme-court-texas-anti-abortion-law
The non-profit Texas Exes graduate group is stepping in to host cultural graduation studies that were nixed by UT over new DEI bans: https://thedailytexan.com/2024/02/09/texas-exes-to-host-cultural-graduation-celebrations/
...While Texas A&M Regents vote to close their controversial Qatar campus: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2024/02/09/texas-am-shutter-controversial-qatar-campus
Our own Progress Texas Advocacy Fellow Tatum Owens highlights two critical threats to voting this year in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/keep-our-elections-open-and-accessible
Black History Month is underway! Progress Texas has a full schedule of events to follow: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-african-american-arts-and-artisans-black-history-month
Progress Texas is seeking to add 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive - we'd appreciate the support: https://progresstexas.org/donate
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Senate Republicans including Ted Cruz and John Cornyn cave to pressure from Donald Trump, backing out of a deal to end their so-called "invasion" at the border: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/cruz-cornyn-border-bill-18653781.php
The deal, to be fair, was not universally loved by Democrats: https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/07/politics/senate-border-ukraine-israel-aid-vote/index.html
All this echoes failure in the U.S. House in their attempted Alejandro Mayorkas impeachment, derailed in part by South Houston's Rep. Al Green: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/07/us/politics/johnson-impeachment-israel-aid.html
From Fox News, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' comments on Al Green's vote: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/jefferies-defend-surprise-appearance-texas-democrat-failed-mayorkas-impeachment-vote
Yet another tough guy photo op and press conference today with Governor Greg Abbott in Eagle Pass today: https://www.kcbd.com/video/2024/02/08/gov-abbott-host-texas-house-representatives-border-security-news-conference-eagle-pass-2/
Eagle Pass residents are fed up and fearful of political and racial violence: https://www.tpr.org/border-immigration/2024-02-07/right-wing-border-convoy-leaves-eagle-pass-residents-on-edge
The stabbing attack on a Palestinian man in Austin has been determined by the Austin Police Department to likely have been a hate crime: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/stabbing-palestinian-american-man-texas-motivated-bias-police-say-rcna137783
Ken Paxton, whose legal team have helped delay his securities fraud trial for eight years, is now complaining that he's not been given a speedy trial: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/paxton-looks-to-dismiss-securities-fraud-charges-says-right-to-speedy-trial-was-violated/
Paxton-backed Texas House hopeful Jared Woodfill of Houston is under renewed scrutiny over allegations he misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars from his clients: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/07/jared-woodfill-kim-ogg-fraud-investigation/
While an Amarillo House candidate is dogged by allegations that her rich father is trying to buy her election: https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/fairly-texas-legislature-vouchers-18651969.php
Black History Month is underway! Progress Texas has a full schedule of events to follow: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-african-american-arts-and-artisans-black-history-month
Progress Texas is seeking to add 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive - we'd appreciate the support: https://progresstexas.org/donate
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Despite the full support of Texas Representatives, the Republican majority in the U.S. House falls short of impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/06/mayorkas-impeachment-vote-fail/
...Partly thanks to a heroic vote by Texas Rep. Al Green, who had escaped his hospital bed to cast a decisive vote establishing a 215-215 tie: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/06/us/politics/al-green-mayorkas-impeachment.html
...While Republicans flail over the border, dangerous elements are heeding their calls for violence: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/where-things-stand/texas-gopers-border-cosplay-becomes-target-for-violent-extremists-and-grifters
...And that "God's Army" thing turned out little more than a lame Trump merch market: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2024/02/05/take-back-border-convoy-texas-republican-immigration-invasion-act/72451333007/
...Still, Texas Republicans are fully bought in on Trump's con job: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/06/texas-republicans-donald-trump-endorse/
...A new state law increasing minimum prison sentences for human trafficking is unlikely to make a difference: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/06/texas-human-smuggling-law-minimum-sentence/
Two Texas companies are found at the root of AI-constructed robocalls featuring a cloned Joe Biden voice: https://www.axios.com/2024/02/07/new-hampshire-fake-robocall-ai-biden-voice-texas
Actual charges related to law enforcement failures in Uvalde appear unlikely: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/07/uvalde-shooting-grand-jury/
Two studies cited by an Amarillo judge in his attacks on the abortion drug mifepristone have been found unsound and pulled by their publisher: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-publisher-retracts-studies-cited-by-texas-judge-suspending-abortion-pills-2024-02-06/
That disgusting produced water spill in Crane County has been plugged after a month-long, over-two-million-dollar effort: https://www.marfapublicradio.org/environment/2024-02-05/state-spends-millions-to-plug-massive-well-leak-in-the-oil-fields-of-crane-county
A great three-part documentary series on Black non-profit leaders in Texas to check out for Black History Month: https://www.nbcdfw.com/discover-black-heritage/for-oak-cliff-founder-featured-in-documentary-series-highlighting-black-ceos-in-dallas/3453820/#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17072784338930&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcdfw.com%2Fdiscover-black-heritage%2Ffor-oak-cliff-founder-featured-in-documentary-series-highlighting-black-ceos-in-dallas%2F3453820%2F
Thanks for listening! Progress Texas is seeking to add 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive - we'd appreciate the support: https://progresstexas.org/donate
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A diverse group of environmental advocates and frontline communities have signed on to an open letter urging Texas progressives in the U.S. House to oppose a resolution allowing for liquid natural gas expansion: https://progresstexas.org/blog/good-step-pausing-lng-export-approvals-next-step-combat-climate-crisis-texas
A new deal on federal border policy finds Democrats running to face Ted Cruz in the fall election divided: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/05/texas-reaction-border-deal-ukraine-israel/
Governor Abbott is limiting his filter for endorsements in Texas House races to the single issue of school vouchers: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article285090707.html
...While deep-red South Dakota sees a voucher scheme go down in flames: https://www.keloland.com/news/capitol-news-bureau/house-panel-blocks-plan-for-7400-education-vouchers/
...And Texas public schools slide ever further behind in funding: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/education/2024/02/05/education-texas-public-school-funding-lowest-inflation-adjusted-state-local-since-2020/72154083007/
...And student orgs at UT face financial problems due to the closure of DEI offices: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/education/university-of-texas/dei-backlash-texas-student-organizations-asking-for-funding/269-f231ff3c-613e-4784-b62f-bac5b5bd5914
A Republican lawmaker thinks Ken Paxton, facing building legal challenges, may be a flight risk: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/yall-itics/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-flight-risk-says-gop-republican-lawmaker/287-023487d1-3836-48df-8ec2-c8638dc265a2
Black History Month is underway! Progress Texas has a full schedule of events to follow: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-african-american-arts-and-artisans-black-history-month
Progress Texas is seeking to add 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive - we'd appreciate the support: https://progresstexas.org/donate
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Today is the last day to register to vote in the March primary! Get it done: https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2024/02/05/monday-is-last-day-to-register-to-vote-in-march-5-texas-primary-election/
All about voting in Texas: https://govotetexas.org/
Governor Abbott, gathered at Eagle Pass with 13 other Republican governors, pledges to expand the border territory his Operation Lone Star is excluding from access by federal Border Patrol personnel: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/04/us/texas-border-abbott-governors.html
...While U.S. House Democrats from Texas respond to Abbott's obvious theatrics and warn of the dangers of stirring racial angst: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4447607-texas-democrats-accuse-abbott-of-inciting-potential-border-violence/
...On Friday, Eagle Pass community leaders demanded that visitors respect the cultural diversity of their region: https://www.newsweek.com/texas-border-convoy-slammed-eagle-pass-community-leaders-ahead-rally-1866598
...Demands largely ignored by the "Take Our Border Back" rally nearby on Saturday, which devolved into a racist Trump rally complete with religious zealotry and anti-Semitic conspiracy speeches: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-looms-over-texas-border-rally-targeting-illegal-immigration-2024-02-03/
...By the way, turns out Shelby Park was named for a Confederate general who fled to Mexico at the end of the Civil War: https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/01/us/shelby-park-texas-border-history-cec/index.html
Texas secessionist groups are denying their obvious parroting of Russian rhetoric: https://www.newsweek.com/texas-independence-group-denies-russian-support-1866798
...While misinformation about the Texas border standoff is circulating in China: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68185317
We look forward to a talk this week with Gina Ortiz Jones, heading up the Find Out PAC dedicated to opposing three Texas Supreme Court justices up for re-election: https://youtu.be/08ihlSOEmMU?si=bOjAHZ6hKN6Z-cv2
...Pregnant women trapped in abusive relationships are uniquely imperiled by Texas' abortion ban: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/article/sewing-texas-abortion-ban-heightens-danger-women-18637853.php
The Democrats running to replace Colin Allred in the U.S. House are mostly in consensus on key progressive issues: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/02/02/north-texas-candidates-for-congress-differ-on-best-approach-for-democrats/
Black History Month is underway! Progress Texas has a full schedule of events to follow: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-african-american-arts-and-artisans-black-history-month
Progress Texas is seeking to add 29 new recurring donors during our February membership drive - we'd appreciate the support: https://progresstexas.org/donate
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Houston Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw is confused at his party's blocking of the very border reforms they claim to want: https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2024/02/01/dan-crenshaw-potential-border-reform-bill-sot-raju-ip-vpx.cnn
That "God's Army" gathering in Dripping Springs was nowhere near "massive": https://nypost.com/2024/02/01/news/patriots-gather-for-massive-rally-at-texas-border/
...Experts say this convoy has already been overrun by "Great Replacement" conspiracy theorists: https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/extremism-disinformation/2024/02/01/proud-boys-other-far-right-groups-use-texas-convoy-as-rallying-cry/
...Nikki Haley walks back her obviously ignorant position on Texas secession: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/02/opinion/haley-abbott-secession-texas.html
...Even the ultra-conservative and unpredictable U.S. Supreme Court is unlikely to go along with secession: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-secession-movement-abbott-border-security/
Is Ted Cruz really winning with Texas millennials? https://www.newsweek.com/ted-cruz-winning-texas-millennials-1866176
...U.S. Rep. Colin Allred continues dominating fundraising: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/01/colin-allred-ted-crus-roland-gutierrez/
That produced water spill in Crane County continues to flow - an update is coming on the Progress Texas Happy Hour: https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/west-texas-water-leak-oil-field-railroad-commission-no-fly-zone/
We send out condolences to beloved volunteer and activist Ernest Walker of Dallas: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/longtime-dallas-activist-dies-leaves-legacy-of-service/287-aad9658f-b54d-487d-9f95-27436bb86a27
Black History Month starts today! Progress Texas has a full schedule of events to follow: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-african-american-arts-and-artisans-black-history-month
The deadline to register for the March primary is this Monday, February 5: https://govotetexas.org/
Early Giving is underway for this year's Amplify Austin non-profit and charity fundraiser, and is a great way to support Progress Texas: https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
We're proud to announce that we are endorsing Texas State Senator Roland Gutierrez to face Ted Cruz in the race for our state's junior seat in the U.S. Senate: https://rolandfortexas.com/
Republican craziness over the border includes the supposedly-moderate (and essentially hopeless) Republican Presidential candidate Nikki Haley: https://nypost.com/2024/01/31/news/nikki-haley-claims-texas-has-the-right-to-secede-from-us-thats-their-decision-to-make/
...While the more obviously crazy U.S. Rep. Chip Roy compares the recent 5-4 SCOTUS call in favor of federal immigration jurisdiction to the infamous Dred Scott decision: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4438115-chip-roy-dred-scott-supreme-court-border-ruling/#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17067202796298&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fhomenews%2Fhouse%2F4438115-chip-roy-dred-scott-supreme-court-border-ruling%2F
...What does the law actually say about a federal takeover of state national guard troops? It's as clear as mud: https://komonews.com/news/nation-world/can-the-federal-government-take-control-of-the-texas-national-guard-governor-greg-abbott-supreme-court-razor-wire-ruling-president-biden-armed-forces-migrants-immigration-border-security
...Meanwhile, the residents of Eagle Pass just want their town back: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/01/slatest-news-politics-newsletter-eagle-pass-texas.html
...As more crazy is inbound, if that goofy truck convoy doesn't implode before it gets here: https://www.businessinsider.com/gods-army-take-our-border-back-convoy-texas-slashed-tires-2024-1
...And older conservatives calling for secession don't appear to have carefully considered their Medicare and Social Security benefits: https://www.newsweek.com/texas-secession-union-medicare-benefits-1865428
Ken Paxton is suing several Texas cities over their local ordinances deprioritizing marijuana enforcement: https://www.kut.org/austin/2024-01-31/attorney-general-ken-paxton-austin-san-marcos-marijuana-possession-ordinances
Black History Month starts today! Progress Texas has a full schedule of events to follow: https://progresstexas.org/blog/celebrating-african-american-arts-and-artisans-black-history-month
The deadline to register for the March primary is this Monday, February 5: https://govotetexas.org/
Early Giving is underway for this year's Amplify Austin non-profit and charity fundraiser, and is a great way to support Progress Texas: https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
No progress reported on the standoff between Governor Greg Abbott and President Joe Biden on federal access to the border: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/texas-refuses-budge-in-border-standoff-with-biden
Eagle Pass firefighters talk about the trauma of recovering so many drowned migrants from the Rio Grande lately: https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2024/01/30/eagle-pass-texas-migrant-surge-border-immigration-contd-orig-lr-ag-ak.cnn
Christian voters, in particular, should be wary of stunts like the "God's Army" truck convoy: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/gods-army-texas-border-christian-nationalism-rcna136279
Ken Paxton gets a pass - for now - on being deposed tomorrow in the whistleblower case against him: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/texas-supreme-court-pauses-depositions-in-paxton-whistleblower-case/
...Donald Trump appears to have persuaded the Texas Supreme Court to stay the deposition order: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/30/ken-paxton-texas-supreme-court-whistleblowers/
...Trump has also joined Paxton in backing a hard-right primary challenger to House Speaker Dade Phelan: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-endorsement-texas-house-speaker-rcna136440
...While an Abbott-backed candidate in the special election to fill the House seat for District 2 is narrowly defeated by an opponent backed by more moderate GOP types: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/politics/lone-star-politics/jill-dutton-wins-race-to-fill-seat-vacated-by-expelled-member/3448714/
The Democratic judge who will preside over Ken Paxton's felony securities fraud trial in Houston this spring is relatively inexperienced: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/second-year-texas-judge-takes-on-long-awaited-ken-paxton-trial
The Texas Supreme Court hears arguments that the PUC overstepped its bounds during the 2021 Winter Storm Uri disaster in ordering ERCOT to hold energy prices at maximum: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-power-2021-winter-storm-supreme-court/269-83efc0b3-72af-48b8-93f0-a131bc4a8662
...And also arguments against SB-14, the new state law outlawing gender-affirming care for trans youth: https://www.fox4news.com/news/senate-bill-14-texas-supreme-court-hearing
Studies show that liberal Twitter users are willing to back down from disproven positions, while conservative users will double down on debunked ideas: https://www.psypost.org/2022/11/liberals-produce-more-tweets-about-important-events-conservatives-are-more-likely-to-share-rumors-64245
...Speaking of which, recently-circulating video of tanks rolling across a desert highway are NOT in fact Texas troops after a federal surrender: https://www.newsweek.com/texas-tanks-border-biden-abbott-video-1865325
The deadline to register for the March primary is this Monday, February 5: https://www.fox26houston.com/news/texas-2024-primary-deadline-approaching-to-register-to-vote-in-march-primary
Early Giving is underway for this year's Amplify Austin non-profit and charity fundraiser, and is a great way to support Progress Texas: https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The standoff between Governor Greg Abbott and President Joe Biden continues: https://www.kens5.com/video/news/special-reports/at-the-border/273-ded0a575-7d5c-4ec3-8465-7d701b45e7f3
...Historic parallels to the situation include Eisenhower '57 and Kennedy '63: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/01/29/immigration-border-texas-trump/
...Should legal solutions in the Congress not work out, Biden faces a difficult call: https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/if-border-bill-fails-time-for-biden-to-take-control-of-texas-border-says-writer-203146309828
...U.S. Reps Joaquin Castro and Greg Casar implore Biden to act: https://www.newsweek.com/texas-governor-reveals-plan-counter-biden-taking-over-national-guard-1865108
...The Supreme Court itself is complicit in Abbott's defiance: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/01/greg-abbott-texas-border-stunt-supreme-court/677267/
...The solvency of the U.S. Constitution itself may be at risk: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-01-29/opinion-heres-whats-at-stake-in-texas-dispute-with-the-federal-government-over-the-border
...Convoys of Abbott supporters promise "peaceful demonstration", but bad actors abound: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/01/29/texas-border-supreme-court-migrants-abbott/
...LULAC issues a statement of warning to its members to be vigilant for racist violence: https://thehill.com/latino/4436050-texas-abbott-border-latino-immigration/
...Not even Republican Dade Phelan is immune from the effects of reckless rhetoric from the right: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/29/texas-house-speaker-dade-phelan-threat/
And in some GOOD news - Texas set a new record for solar power last weekend: https://www.kut.org/energy-environment/2024-01-29/texas-just-broke-a-record-for-how-much-power-it-got-from-the-sun
Early Giving is underway for this year's Amplify Austin non-profit and charity fundraiser, and is a great way to support Progress Texas: https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The standoff between Texas and the Biden Administration is verging on unprecedented - outside of the leadup to the American Civil War: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-refuses-federal-agents-access-shelby-park-eagle-pass-border/
...Governor Abbott's legal position parallels those asserted by Confederate states as they left the Union, all thoroughly debunked: https://www.thedailybeast.com/texas-border-stunt-is-based-on-a-confederate-legal-theory
...It also relies on the patently absurd equivalency comparing migrants seeking work to an invading foreign army: https://www.cato.org/blog/explaining-border-standoff-between-texas-federal-government
...Houston State Rep. Gene Wu suggests that Abbott follow the law, just as he asks pregnant rape victims to do: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/gene-wu-texas-us-mexico-border-razor-wire-supreme-court-scotus-ruling/287-bcbf2a26-52a6-4933-8cde-6a795952f767
...While Donald Trump claps with glee and eggs Abbott on: https://apnews.com/article/trump-biden-immigration-texas-border-mexico-f2c1f03d902734521ab6e23f02ed9fa3
...And Russia looks on with interest, hoping the Texas border crisis will end American interest in and aid for Ukraine: https://www.newsweek.com/russia-state-tv-texas-border-control-greg-abbott-joe-biden-donald-trump-1864605
...While an Indian source points out that footage covering the "Army Of God" truck convoy is actually that of a COVID convoy from 2022: https://www.indiatoday.in/fact-check/story/fact-check-convoy-heading-towards-texas-for-border-control-no-this-video-is-from-2022-2494924-2024-01-29
What may end up the only debate between Democratic hopefuls to challenge Ted Cruz in November was held yesterday: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/28/texas-senate-democratic-debate/
...Listen in its entirety here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-143-the-u-s-senate-texas-democratic/id1552998795?i=1000643297735
Ken Paxton hassles another out-of-state clinic for the private medical records of trans kids, this one in Georgia: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/26/texas-attorney-general-trans-documents-georgia-ken-paxton/
Snopes finds that yes - Norwegians really do use the word "Texas" as slang for insane, chaotic situations: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/texas-slang-crazy-norway/
Thanks for listening! Discover our web store and other ways to support our ongoing mission at https://progresstexas.org/.
Just hours ago, in what may end up the only full debate featuring the top contenders, the Democratic hopefuls to face Ted Cruz for Texas' junior U.S. Senate seat in November faced off in a live debate. Thanks to the Texas AFL/CIO for allowing us to capture this very important conversation during their annual COPE Convention in Austin, which is presented here in its entirety.
Learn more about the Texas AFL/CIO and all the incredible work they do for hardworking Texans statewide at https://texasaflcio.org/.
Thanks for listening! Hit our web store and learn about other ways to support our ongoing mission at Progress Texas at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Former President and presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump has issued a call for "all willing states" to send their national guards to Texas to confront federal personnel alongside Operation Lone Star: https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-calls-for-all-willing-states-to-deploy-national-guard-troops-to-texas
...While 25 Republican Governors - representing half the states - weigh in in favor of Abbott and Trump: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13009037/governors-Texas-border-dispute-security.html
...And Republicans, sensing a favorable election angle, have no intention of actually trying to solve the border problem: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/immoral-republicans-rebuke-efforts-kill-immigration-deal-help-trump-rcna135732
The Biden Administration delights environmental advocates with a delay for new liquefied natural gas (LNG) approvals: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-new-natural-gas-export-terminals-pause-consideration/
...Statement from the White House: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/01/26/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-decision-to-pause-pending-approvals-of-liquefied-natural-gas-exports/
...While Texas industry admits to releasing tons of extra pollution in "upset emissions" during the recent cold snap: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/26/texas-pollution-emissions-cold-weather-upsets/
A sharp uptick in rape-related pregnancies has occurred since the near-total ban on abortion in Texas began: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/health/article/texas-sees-estimated-26k-pregnancies-rape-18625692.php
A retiring Texas Senator who voted to acquit Ken Paxton in last year's impeachment trial thinks that impeachment deserves a second look: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/politics/ken-paxton-second-impeachment-trial-called-for-by-republican-who-voted-to-acquit/269-2c712e20-e21c-41a3-9312-09c10da51769
A popular scholarship for undocumented students at UT has unexpectedly fallen to the new DEI ban: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2024/01/25/ut-eliminates-scholarship-program-for-undocumented-students-following-texas-dei-ban/
Most Texans no longer have to have their cars inspected annually, except for those in high-population counties - and we're all still paying for inspections anyway: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/watchdog/2024/01/24/the-ins-and-outs-of-the-confusing-texas-car-inspection-law-with-the-help-of-readers/#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17062495253053&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dallasnews.com%2Fnews%2Fwatchdog%2F2024%2F01%2F24%2Fthe-ins-and-outs-of-the-confusing-texas-car-inspection-law-with-the-help-of-readers%2F
Share with your less-wonky friends - Why Are Texas Primaries Important? https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/simplified/article/why-texas-primaries-are-important-18605476.php
This weekend, a debate in the Dallas area between Texas Democrats seeking office in the U.S. House and Texas Senate: https://www.mobilize.us/richardsonareademocrats/event/598402/
...And the Dems looking to face Ted Cruz in the U.S. Senate race: https://texasaflcio.org/news/cope-convention-host-first-us-senate-debate
Early Giving is underway for this year's Amplify Austin non-profit and charity fundraiser, and is a great way to support Progress Texas: https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
That deadline imposed by the federal government to allow full Border Patrol access to Shelby Park arrives tomorrow: https://www.cbsnews.com/video/texas-continues-block-federal-officials-border-park/
...While Governor Greg Abbott reiterates Texas' "right to defend itself against invasion": https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-self-defense-border-battle/285-7a1131cc-e1a1-47f2-acd5-5df1f648d9be
Kate Cox has been invited to be First Lady Jill Biden's guest at the State Of The Union address in March: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/24/texas-kate-cox-biden-state-of-the-union/
The Christian Nationalist oil billionaires who brought you Defend Texas Liberty have started a new ultraconservative PAC: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/24/tim-dunn-farris-wilks-defend-texas-liberty-nick-fuentes/
The Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club succeeds in delaying a vote on a massive property trade with Elon Musk's SpaceX: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/space/article/texas-parks-and-wildlife-spacex-land-swap-18626039.php
A trial is scheduled for next month to determine whether Barbers Hill ISD is in the right in punishing junior Darryl George over his traditional hairstyle: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/texas-schools-punishment-black-student-wears-dreadlocks-going-trial-rcna135545
May graduates at UT Austin learn of the impacts on their ceremonies by the ending of DEI offices by state law: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/education/university-of-texas/dei-backlash-texas-schools-ut-austin/269-b5f397df-c8b9-4151-9b19-cc006629a038
A Gainesville legal fight could hold major implications for the right to protest: https://www.kxii.com/2024/01/25/gainesville-protestors-arrested-2020-appealing-texas-highest-criminal-court/
The staff of the Texas Tribune have announced that they are unionizing: https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2024-01-24/the-texas-tribune-is-unionizing/
Join us Saturday as we co-host candidate forums for races for seats in both the U.S. House and Texas Senate: https://www.mobilize.us/richardsonareademocrats/event/598402/
And watch for our posting of a podcast featuring Sunday's debate between Democratic primary candidates seeking to face Ted Cruz: https://texasaflcio.org/news/cope-convention-host-first-us-senate-debate
Early Giving is underway for this year's Amplify Austin non-profit and charity fundraiser, and is a great way to support Progress Texas: https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute
Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
So far, the order issued by the U.S. Supreme Court to allow Border Patrol full access has been defied by Governor Abbott, as the feds issue a new Friday deadline: https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/23/us/us-mexico-border-texas-migrants/index.html
...Conservatives recklessly encouraging Abbott's defiance: Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn: https://themessenger.com/politics/gop-texas-sen-cruz-slams-scotus-razor-wire-border-ruling-disgraceful
...Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: https://www.newsweek.com/supreme-court-texas-war-marjorie-taylor-greene-warning-1863296
...Texas U.S. Rep. Chip Roy and right-wing think-tankers: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/gop-border-wire-supreme-court-18623608.php
...And Louisiana U.S. Rep Clay Higgins and wingnut hero Tucker Carlson: https://www.vice.com/en/article/5d9agn/texas-vowing-resistance-supreme-court-ruling-razor-wire-us-mexico-border
...Meanwhile, Operation Lone Star has thus far cost YOU, the Texas taxpayer, 10 billion dollars and counting: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/governor-abbotts-operation-lone-star-touts-thousands-of-arrests-10-billion-cost/
Ken Paxton-backed Republican State House candidate Jared Woodfill is connected to a notorious sexual predator: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/23/jared-woodfill-paul-pressler-southern-baptist-state-legislature/
...While Abbott-backed Texas Senate candidate Brent Hagenbuch can't seem to shake questions about his residency-based eligibility: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/23/denton-county-election-brent-hagenbuch/
State health officials worry that Texas Republicans' war on COVID vaccines may undermine our future ability to respond to emerging health crises: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/health/article/hotez-covid-vaccine-rules-18610932.php
A new anti-Christian Nationalist group has hired its first field director, and she's based in North Texas: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/faith/2024/01/23/christian-nationalism-is-a-large-threat-in-north-texas-says-local-organizer/
A debate between the Democratic candidates to face Ted Cruz - the only one, to our knowledge, that U.S. Rep. Colin Allred has agreed to attend - will happen Saturday in Austin: https://texasaflcio.org/news/cope-convention-host-first-us-senate-debate
And at the same time, Progress Texas is hosting a forum for candidates for both the U.S. House and the Texas Senate: https://www.mobilize.us/richardsonareademocrats/event/598402/
Thanks for listening! Please explore the various fun ways to support Progress Texas and our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Opportunities abound for progressive Texans this election year. From the chance to send Ted Cruz packing, to the possibility of virtually guaranteeing a second Joe Biden term with our 40 electoral votes, a massive show of force in the Lone Star State would be a truly historic moment - and it's up to US to bring that moment into reality. Top of mind nationally for progressive folks is abortion rights - and specifically the national implications for reproductive freedom should Republicans gain too much power in November.
Joining us to talk about this all-important election year are representatives of the Texas Democratic Party: Executive Director Monique Alcala and Convention Director Emma Pickering give us the rundown on how abortion rights form the spearhead of Democratic messaging strategy in 2024 - and a preview of the Texas Democratic Convention, happening in El Paso this June! Hope to see YOU there.
Learn more about the Texas Democratic Party at https://www.texasdemocrats.org/, and make plans to attend the Convention at https://texasdemocraticconvention.com/.
Thanks for listening! Please check out our web store and more ways to support Progress Texas in our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed federal Border Patrol agents to cut or move razor wire placed on the Texas border by Operation Lone Star: https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-immigration-texas-razor-wire-9daef6bd316211b6633ece718e505187
...Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton vow to keep on fighting: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/2024/01/22/supreme-court-ruling-razor-wire-border-texas-greg-abbott-ken-paxton-attorney-general/72318043007/
...While we note that four SCOTUS Justices, including two of the three picked by Donald Trump, just decided AGAINST federal supremacy: https://www.vox.com/scotus/2024/1/22/24047314/supreme-court-texas-homeland-security-razor-wire-eagle-pass-biden
New studies show that teen fertility rates have jumped for the first time in years since new bans on abortion went into effect in Texas: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/health/article/texas-teen-birth-rate-sees-first-rise-15-years-18621083.php
...While President Biden blasts Texas for our abortion laws: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12993375/Biden-calls-outrageous-Texas-doctors-life-sentence-performing-abortions-rips-extreme-Supreme-Court-50th-anniversary-Roe-v-Wade.html
A coalition of LGBTQIA+ advocacy groups have petitioned the United Nations to look into the violation of international treaty by seven Texas' anti-LGBTQ laws: https://thehill.com/homenews/lgbtq/4422306-texas-petitioned-at-united-nations-over-laws-targeting-lgbtq-communities/
...All considering that treaties ratified by the U.S. are considered federal law: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lgbtq-advocates-letter-united-nations-texas_n_65aed552e4b0f55c6e30740c
Dallas and Lockhart see new marijuana decriminalization efforts that have seen success in several other Texas cities: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/texas-activists-launch-signature-drive-for-local-marijuana-decriminalization-ballot-measures-in-dallas-and-lockhart/
Join Progress Texas on Saturday (1/27) for a debate series featuring candidates for the U.S. House and the Texas Senate: https://www.mobilize.us/richardsonareademocrats/event/598402/
Thanks for listening! Learn more about how to support Progress Texas' ongoing mission at https://progresstexas.org/.
A new poll shows that U.S. Senator Ted Cruz is in a dead heat with BOTH Dallas U.S. Representative Colin Allred and San Antonio State Senator Roland Gutierrez: https://www.newsweek.com/ted-cruz-poll-raises-alarm-bells-texas-election-1862204
...That same poll finds Allred well ahead of all Democratic challengers, but with a plurality of Texas Democratic primary voters still undecided: https://emersoncollegepolling.com/texas-2024-poll-allred-leads-democratic-senate-primary-plurality-are-undecided/
...While Cruz swallows his own considerable pride to endorse Donald Trump for a third time: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/ted-cruz-donald-trump-endorsement-2024
...And his own political future hangs on a U.S. Supreme Court decision on whether the Colorado Supreme Court can find Trump ineligible for that state's ballot: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-supreme-court-14th-amendment-republicans-congress-rcna134736
...And the Houston Chronicle rebukes Cruz for his "betrayal" in Winter Storm Uri and recent jokes about it: https://www.newsweek.com/ted-cruz-rebuked-largest-texas-newspaper-betrayal-1862503
A new Biden campaign ad features a Dallas OB/GYN who found herself without needed abortion care: https://x.com/JoeBiden/status/1749161319519912355?t=zNL10Ckqsp8zvWX5gP8iHA&s=03
...While a Texas A&M professor who also found her life threatened by Texas' abortion ban relates her horrific experience in Newsweek: https://www.newsweek.com/i-miscarried-texas-doctors-abortion-law-1861677
A Salon op-ed accuses Governor Abbott of taking Texas to a dangerous brink over the border: https://www.salon.com/2024/01/22/greg-abbott-is-pushing-texas-to-the-brink/
Water supplies are at dangerously low levels heading towards the summer of '24 in multiple sections of Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/22/texas-water-supply-reservoirs-drought/
...While the Texas Water Development Board predicts that growth will far exceed water availability in Texas by 2070: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-population-is-projected-to-surpass-50m-by-2070-do-we-have-enough-water/3439855/
ERCOT made it through the MLK freeze, but our grid remains vulnerable: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2024/01/22/the-texas-grid-did-its-job-during-the-freeze-but-the-jobs-not-done/
...While ERCOT's governing board, the PUC, has voted down their proposed system of fines and penalties for battery storage operators: https://www.expressnews.com/business/article/battery-ercot-contested-regulations-1186-18614035.php
And Tex-Mex ascends to the top of the most popular cultural culinary motifs in America: https://www.axios.com/2023/04/14/food-trends-us-restaurant-menu-tacos
Thanks for listening! Find out how to support Progress Texas in our important work this election year at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A U.S. Department of Justice report on the May 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary calls law enforcement response a series of "cascading failures": https://apnews.com/article/uvalde-school-shooting-justice-department-report-police-16b59efa5c5015d685d917c3f0f26256
...Other findings include a lack of courageous leadership and a failure to properly contain the crime scene afterwards: https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/18/us/takeaways-doj-uvalde-report/index.html
...Attorney General Merrick Garland spoke in Uvalde, calling on law enforcement nationwide to step up active shooter training: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/18/uvalde-school-shooting-federal-investigation-police-response/
...While the Uvalde families continue seeking consequences for the officers who failed their kids: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/18/uvalde-shooting-federal-investigation-families-waiting/
Tensions grow in Eagle Pass as Operation Lone Star begin SB-4 styled arrests of migrants while the standoff with federal Border Patrol agents continues: https://nypost.com/2024/01/18/news/texas-begins-arresting-illegal-migrants-in-eagle-pass/
...Abbott's defiance of the Biden administration is reminiscent of civil rights movement-era segregationist governors: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-01-18/texas-governor-greg-abbott-border-patrol-mexico-supreme-court-harry-litman
...While the U.S. Supreme Court makes things worse by slow-walking any intervention: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/01/supreme-court-texas-border-patrol-standoff.html
Backlash continues over a vote by Dallas U.S. Rep. Colin Allred in support of a Republican rebuke of President Biden over his border management: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/18/colin-allred-biden-border-roland-gutierrez/
...While the Stonewall Democrats of Dallas endorse State Senator Roland Gutierrez for the Democratic nomination to face Ted Cruz: https://www.facebook.com/DallasStonewall/?locale=fi_FI&paipv=0&eav=AfYSRYcybq7zTUF1HX_N3U5e5-qhfTctcksYrc0oMs9YxFcQ7I3Bz2B9NIWDgDJtmBA&_rdr
Two Texas U.S. Representatives attended a December 2020 meeting at the White House to discuss pressuring then-Vice President Mike Pence into helping overturn the Biden election: https://www.axios.com/2022/07/12/house-republicans-jan6-white-house
Thanks for listening! Hit our web store and find other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
U.S. Representative Colin Allred voted along with over a dozen other House Democrats in support of a Republican rebuke of President Biden over border policy: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4414955-democrats-gop-resolution-denouncing-biden-open-border-policies/
...While hitting another huge fundraising benchmark: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/17/colin-allred-us-senate-campaign/
Texas has defied a federal deadline to turn over control of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-border-us-mexico-ken-paxton-attorney-general/
...While the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reverses itself and vacates its own ruling requiring the moving of that notorious river barrier: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/court-rules-in-reversal-texas-floating-barrier-between-us-and-mexico-can-stay-for-now/
The 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin rules that Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton must turn over e-mails related to the January 6 insurrection: https://www.tpr.org/government-politics/2024-01-17/lawsuit-seeking-texas-attorney-generals-jan-6-emails-can-move-forward-appeals-court-rules
That over-six-million-dollar pro-voucher donation to Governor Abbott is just part of a rising tide of fundraising on both sides of that issue: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/01/18/fight-over-school-choice-puts-fundraising-for-texas-gop-primary-on-steroids/
The Texas Railroad Commission is suspected of covering up a toxic "produced water" spill in Crane County via an FAA no-fly-zone order: https://bigbendsentinel.com/2024/01/10/railroad-commission-claims-gas-leak-to-hide-produced-water-destruction/
Join us tonight in Richardson for a debate featuring candidates for U.S. Congressional District 32: https://www.mobilize.us/richardsonareademocrats/event/597311/
And - Progress Texas is seeking an Advocacy Manager and a Communications Intern! Join the team, and hit the web store at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Record low temperatures have been recorded across Texas: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/weather/article/texas-cold-front-18611255.php
...Including in normally-balmy Houston - but this was no Uri: https://www.chron.com/weather/article/houston-freeze-texas-18610377.php
Two attorneys have sought clarification on abortion restriction exceptions from the Texas Medical Board: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/16/texas-medical-board-abortion/
Governor Abbott has accepted an enormous $6 million donation from a Pennsylvania billionaire who backs private school vouchers: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/16/greg-abbott-jeff-yass-camapaign-donation/
Texas has until the end of the day to turn Shelby Park in Eagle Pass back over to federal Border Patrol: https://news4sanantonio.com/news/local/state-of-texas-battles-federal-government-over-control-of-border-with-mexico-immigration-crisis-at-the-border
...The three drowning victims from MLK weekend are remembered: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12971181/migrant-children-drown-border-Eagle-Pass-Texas.html
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg will be deposed in an ongoing lawsuit filed by Ken Paxton against his company: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/16/meta-ceo-zuckerberg-to-be-deposed-in-texas-facial-recognition-case.html
...While Paxton himself will be required to testify under oath in the ongoing whistleblower lawsuit against him: https://www.keranews.org/texas-news/2024-01-16/texas-supreme-court-rules-against-ag-ken-paxton-greenlights-his-deposition-in-whistleblower-case
...And Paxton's lawsuit against Pfizer will be moved to federal court: https://www.kcbd.com/2024/01/17/ag-paxtons-lawsuit-against-pfizer-moved-federal-court/
Reminder about tomorrow's District 32 debate, co-hosted by Progress Texas: https://www.mobilize.us/richardsonareademocrats/event/597311/
And, Progress Texas is hiring! We're looking for an Advocacy Manager: https://progresstexas.org/blog/advocacy-manager-progress-texas-jobs
...and a Communications Intern: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-internships
Thanks for listening! Hit our web store and other ways to support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Over the last few years, San Antonio State Senator Roland Gutierrez has become a familiar voice to Progress Texas podcast listeners, mostly related to his steadfast support of and advocacy for the families of the victims of the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, which is in his district. This time, as he's running for the Democratic nomination to challenge Ted Cruz for Texas' junior seat in that chamber, we've invited Senator Gutierrez on for a wide-ranging talk covering the issues most important to Texas progressives, to the continued prosperity of our country, and to the very survival of American democracy.
Find out more about Senator Roland Gutierrez and his campaign at https://rolandfortexas.com/.
An important note for our listeners: we have extended a similar invitation to U.S. Representative Colin Allred of Dallas, who is also running for the Democratic nomination to challenge Ted Cruz. As of publishing time, we have not heard back, but are hopeful that he'll accept and join us. Stay tuned!
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Shamefully, it's of national note that the Texas power grid has mostly stayed functional amidst the current winter blast: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/good-news-texas-power-grid-holding-up/
...ERCOT's most recent plea to conserve power is in effect as we publish this morning: https://www.fox7austin.com/news/texas-winter-weather-ercot-power-conservation-appeal-jan-16
...The cold snap arrived as inspections of power facilities remained incomplete: https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/hundreds-of-ercot-power-facility-inspections-were-not-completed-before-winter-blast/3434953/
...It's even colder in Chicago, where Governor Abbott continues sending migrants into lacking shelter: https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/15/us/chicago-migrants-cold-weather/index.html
As the MLK weekend began, three Mexican migrants drowned in the Rio Grande in a section of Eagle Pass that "Texas Military Department" personnel have blocked from access by federal Border Patrol agents: https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/15/us/what-we-know-about-the-drownings-of-3-migrants-in-eagle-pass-texas/index.html
...Texas officials deny neglect in these drownings: https://nypost.com/2024/01/15/news/texas-military-deny-stopping-cbp-saving-drowning-migrants/
...The Biden Administration has given Texas authorities until tomorrow to stop blocking federal access to Shelby Park: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/13/henry-cuellar-texas-border-eagle-pass/
A notorious Amarillo anti-abortion activist judge has allowed three other states to join a lawsuit alleging that mifepristone is unsafe: https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/nation-world/abortion-pill-texas-judge-grants-motion-allowing-idaho-join-lawsuit-against-fda-over-mifepristone/277-c2de6586-b4d8-4f8f-be46-bd3d161d9032
...While our Tatum Owens writes on an apparently unnecessary death of a pregnant woman in Luling: https://progresstexas.org/baby-shower-turned-funeral
Texas Republican Party Chair Matt Rinaldi is found to be on the payroll of Defend Texas Liberty founder Farris Wilks: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/12/farris-wilks-matt-rinaldi-defend-texas-liberty/
National Democrats' confidence in wins in Texas and Florida is growing: https://www.wvua23.com/democrats-target-gop-strongholds-texas-and-florida-with-senate-majority-on-the-line/
Ted Cruz invites freezing Texans to join him in Cancun, and curses the Dallas Cowboys to another ugly playoff loss: https://klaq.com/?p=828976
And Thursday's debate among candidates for House District 32 has been moved, and will also feature more candidates: https://www.mobilize.us/richardsonareademocrats/event/597311/
Thanks for listening! Please check out our web store and more ways to help Progress Texas continue our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The winter blast inbound for MLK weekend is thought NOT to be on par with conditions we saw during Winter Storm Uri: https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2024/01/worried-about-the-texas-power-grid-heres-what-to-expect-from-the-incoming-arctic-blast/
...Should be mostly dry, with possible exceptions in northeast Texas: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-weather/article/how-texas-freeze-next-week-compares-february-2021-18600817.php
...A handy checklist by which to prepare for the cold: https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/texas-winter-weather-checklist-how-to-prepare-ahead-of-storms-freezes/
Governor Abbott says on a radio show that the main thing keeping him from ordering the shooting of migrants is the fact that murder is illegal: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/greg-abbott-murder-charges-shooting-migrants-1234945121/
...While Operation Lone Star troopers seize a public park in Eagle Pass without permission from the city: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/migrants-eagle-pass-park-18602608.php
...Setting up a clash between federal Border Patrol agents and state officers: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-blocks-federal-border-agents-processing-migrants-eagle-pass-shelby-park/
A mass of wild animals are found to have been burned alive after being trapped against a border wall in a federally-protected area last summer: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/11/texas-border-wall-wildfire-trapped-wild-animals-dead
It's official: 2023 was the hottest year on record in Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/11/texas-2023-hottest-year/
...And it came with a record number of heat-related deaths in the state: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/12/texas-heat-deaths-2023-record-climate-change/
Ken Paxton has asked the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to allow Texas' ban on drag shows to take effect: https://www.kxan.com/lgbtq/ken-paxton-appeals-texas-drag-performance-law-injunction/
...While a New Braunfels campsite refuses to allow a gay couple to hold their wedding on their property: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/new-braunfels-refuse-gay-marriage-18598901.php
With all that negativity today, a chance for a lift: a national blood shortage makes today and this weekend a great time to give blood: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/red-cross-declares-emergency-blood-shortage-urges-donations/
Thanks for listening! Please consider supporting our important work - multiple ways to do so at https://progresstexas.org/.
This week, what appeared to be a ham-fisted silencing of a large group of journalists and left-leaning activists on Elon Musk's X - the platform that we, frankly, generally still call Twitter - was shrugged off by Musk as a side effect of routine housecleaning of bots and fake accounts. Our friend and regular contributor Steven Monacelli, investigative reporter for the Texas Observer, was one of those who found themselves temporarily in Twitter jail this week; he's not accepting that lame explanation, and neither are we.
As the all-important 2024 election year spins up, will Twitter/X remain a place where the truth, and those who make it their life's work to seek out the truth, can count on an equitable playing field? Or, will it be subject to the whims of its increasingly erratic and childish billionaire owner, seemingly more interested in basking in the adoration of his right-wing conspiracist following than truly supporting "free speech" as he loves to claim?
Find Steven Monacelli's great work for the Texas Observer at https://www.texasobserver.org/author/steven-monacelli/.
Thanks for your support! Please check out our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The incoming winter weather should fall short of "historic" measure: https://www.theweathernetwork.com/en/news/weather/forecasts/canadian-deep-freeze-steaming-towards-texas-is-it-historical
...While ERCOT issues a fresh weather watch: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/ercot-issues-weather-watch-ahead-of-arctic-blast/3430486/
...Homeowners are advised to prepare pipes, plants and pets: https://www.fox7austin.com/news/texas-winter-weather-homeowners-plan
...And we're all reminded of the signs of hypothermia: https://www.newswest9.com/article/sports/outdoors/texas-outdoors/with-temperatures-expected-to-drop-in-west-texas-hypothermia-could-be-a-real-concern/513-76565658-b8bd-4f2c-9607-91c7de96b104
...And in an epic case of bad timing, ERCOT's former CEO testifies that Governor Abbott ordered that energy prices remain at the maximum during Winter Storm Uri in 2021: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/texas/former-ercot-ceo-following-gov-abbott-order-prices-at-max-cap-feb-2021-winter-storm/269-fe79947a-8ed2-4817-b4d5-037b72c46443
A heartbreaking story of a young Luling woman who died in the midst of a difficult pregnancy - possibly exacerbated by Texas' abortion care restrictions: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/15/abortion-high-risk-pregnancy-yeni-glick
Special education programs at Texas public schools brace for a sudden $300 million denial of federal funding: https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/special-education-funding-cut-18598018.php
Texas lawmakers in D.C. are leading the impeachment effort against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/10/texas-republicans-mayorkas-impeachment/
Ken Paxton is pleading with the Texas Supreme Court to block a lower court's order for him to testify in that ongoing whistleblower lawsuit: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/paxton-asks-texas-supreme-court-to-block-sworn-testimony-in-whistleblower-case/
...While the Texas Supreme Court declines to intervene on the behalf of a Texas secessionist group: https://www.tpr.org/government-politics/2024-01-10/texas-supreme-court-wont-take-up-secessionist-groups-push-to-get-texit-measure-on-gop-ball
Texas A&M president Mark Welsh addresses a crank theory that A&M has sold out its nuclear weapons research to Qatar: https://www.kagstv.com/article/news/local/texas-am-president-clears-up-misinformation/499-66e2100d-e813-45c8-a727-6a124d0950e2
Progress Texas will help host a debate between Democratic candidates for U.S. House District 32 next week: https://www.mobilize.us/richardsonareademocrats/event/597311/
Thanks for listening! Please check out the several ways in which you can help support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Despite an early warning of possible operational issues, ERCOT officials remain bullish on the power staying on through the upcoming winter freeze: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/investigations/defenders/ercot-operating-condition-notice-texas-power-grid/269-ba1f0642-92fd-4f5f-ad1f-cfe45fbcca9f
...Go-to energy expert Doug Lewin thinks we'll be okay: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/ercot-watchful-ahead-of-cold-weather-energy-expert-says-no-cause-for-alarm/3430070/
...Trader Joe's stores in Denver are already seeing inventory shortages due to bad weather in Texas: https://kdvr.com/news/local/trader-joes-stores-in-colorado-low-on-inventory-due-to-texas-weather/
Regular Progress Texas podcast contributor and Texas Observer investigative reporter Steven Monacelli was among a group of journalists suspended - and then reinstated - by Twitter/X yesterday: https://www.vice.com/en/article/5d948x/x-purges-prominent-journalists-leftists-with-no-explanation
Democratic hopefuls for the nomination to face Ted Cruz comment on our junior Senator's silence on abortion: https://themessenger.com/politics/democrats-pounce-on-cruzs-silence-on-texas-abortion-law-as-2024-race-looms
...Mark your calendar for a Democratic Senate primary debate: Friday February 9.
CBS News got an inside look at the Texas end of those migrant bus trips, designed to sow chaos in Democratically-led cities: https://www.cbsnews.com/video/texas-officials-accused-of-creating-migrant-busing-chaos/
A law professor at UT Austin is preparing a new class - "Understanding Conservative Legal Thought": https://reason.com/volokh/2024/01/09/new-univ-of-texas-law-class-on-understanding-conservative-legal-thought/
Thanks for listening! See multiple ways to help Progress Texas continue our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Joe Biden made his first visit as President to Dallas last night to attend the wake of late Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/national-politics/president-biden-members-congressional-black-caucus-bid-farewell-late-congresswoman-eddie-bernice-johnson-monday-wake/287-1198c86e-95ba-4783-b0e6-7e7dbd26d6c1
...After a disturbance at Love Field by pro-Palestine protestors resulted in over a dozen arrests: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/01/08/pro-palestine-rally-joe-biden-dallas/
Facing impeachment, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas visited Texas yesterday as well, to make his case at Eagle Pass: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/mayorkas-border-impeachment-18595978.php
U.S. Senate hopeful Colin Allred says abortion rights are the key issue for Democrats this year: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/in-bid-for-us-senate-democrat-colin-allred-says-he-expects-abortion-rights-issue-to-motivate-voters/287-47836750-e5d4-4008-9826-243cc89dcca9
...Allred leads polling among Democratic candidates, but all suffer from lacking name recognition with the general public: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/elections/2024/01/08/473505/congressman-colin-allred-leads-a-crowded-democratic-primary-field-seeking-to-challenge-senator-ted-cruz/
Officials at UT San Antonio continue struggling to accommodate new state laws against DEI while not abandoning their diverse student body: https://news4sanantonio.com/news/local/utsa-nixed-revamped-inclusion-offices-and-changes-inclusivity-statement-amid-sb-17
...While efforts are underway at historically-Black Huston Tillotson University in Austin to team up with the local school district to promote Black male teachers: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/education/more-black-male-teachers-program-austin-texas-hbcu/269-da341b02-045f-45f1-b494-dc3d1ddc0127
Homelessness among Texas veterans jumped an alarming 19% last year: https://www.ktsm.com/news/texas-politics/report-texas-homeless-veteran-population-rose-in-last-year/
...While winter weather approaches and grid worries resurface: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/texas-grid-winter-2024/285-b01c91e1-e638-4ba0-a09c-17c9ba5f2d45
This episode features the full remarks of U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee from last night's wake service for Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson - video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNhfEQoN5C4&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wfaa.com%2F&source_ve_path=Mjg2NjQsMjM4NTE&feature=emb_title
Thanks for listening! Check out our web store and other ways to support Progress Texas and our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Scott Braddock at Quorum Report predicts that retribution efforts by both Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, the fight to unseat Ted Cruz, the border and, most importantly, abortion rights will be central to this huge election year: https://news.yahoo.com/texas-politics-2024-biggest-stories-005524497.html
...While Governor Abbott is rebuked by the editorial board of the Houston Chronicle for his "devious plot" of busing and flying migrants into northern cities: https://www.newsweek.com/greg-abbott-accused-sowing-chaos-largest-texas-newspaper-1858450
...And Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson calls Abbott's scheme "unconscionable, reckless, raggedy and evil-spirited": https://youtu.be/D9HhPqaSp_o?si=0jIZeDUjDPLtKTZb
Abortion rights will be the most important issue for progressive candidates this year, as the experience of problem pregnancies becomes more and more horrific: https://msmagazine.com/2024/01/04/pro-life-health-mother-fetus-baby-miscarriage-crime/
Houston's new Mayor and City Controller map out their paths forward: https://abc13.com/this-week-in-texas-houston-politics-news-john-whitmire/14292760/
Texas turns down millions of dollars in federal assistance in feeding kids this summer - because we can't figure out how to manage the program: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/why-texas-turned-down-millions-for-child-hunger-assistance/
Republican candidates, accustomed to gullible voters, are having authenticity issues with Hispanic voters in Texas: https://www.tpr.org/government-politics/2024-01-05/mayra-flores-social-media-controversy-highlights-discord-among-south-texas-republicans
Services memorializing Texas icon Eddie Bernice Johnson begin today in Dallas: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/funeral-services-begin-for-former-congresswoman-eddie-bernice-johnson/
Thanks for listening! Please check out our web store and support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The family of longtime Texas U.S. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, who died at 89 on New Year's Eve, alleges that she was neglected under the care of Baylor Scott and White's rehabilitation center: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/04/texas-eddie-bernice-johnson-lawsuit/
...We also have a correction on misreported details on her memorial services, happening early next week: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/legacyremembers/eddie-johnson-obituary?pid=206021389
The new federal lawsuit against Texas over SB-4 is likely to eventually be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court: https://www.fox7austin.com/news/texas-border-lawsuit-immigration-sb-4
...While New York City sues the bus companied hired by Governor Abbott to dump migrants there for $700 million - and Abbott's response may be problematic for Republican-led counties in Texas seeking to limit interstate travel by abortion seekers: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2024/01/04/new-york-city-is-suing-charter-bus-companies-for-transporting-migrants-from-texas/
...And Dallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett counters assertions by House Speaker Mike Johnson that federal border authorities don't want the additional funding that the GOP is now blocking: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4389021-texas-democrat-crockett-blasts-johnson-border-funds/
...And Houston-area U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls confirms what we all know, which is that Republicans prioritize their own power over good policy for the country: https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/border-policies-gops-nehls-says-quiet-part-loud-rcna132223
ERCOT is underway with plans to connect to an outside power source in Mississippi, but its capacity is not especially significant: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/efforts-underway-to-connect-ercot-to-power-grids-outside-of-texas/3425919/
And a piece on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and its recent conservative leanings provides even more reason to mobilize against a second Donald Trump term: https://factkeepers.com/the-fifth-circuit-court-of-appeals-is-now-the-handmaids-court/
Thanks for listening! Please visit our web store and consider supporting our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Health officials in the D/FW area are watching a spike in both COVID and flu-related hospitalizations - a good time to be sure vaccinations are up to date: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/flu-and-covid-19-cases-continue-to-increase-across-texas/3424962/
The Biden Department of Justice has sued the state of Texas over SB-4: https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-justice-dept-sues-texas-over-immigration-law-2024-01-03/
...While U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson leads a congressional field trip cosplay at Eagle Pass: https://apnews.com/article/congress-border-security-ukraine-migrants-texas-mexico-909cfb700eafef95196f97906dc16ae1
...And the New York Times checks the facts: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/03/us/politics/republicans-immigration-border-fact-check.html
...And that El Paso family violently targeted by DPS recently gives an interview to NPR: https://www.npr.org/2024/01/03/1222600892/u-s-citizens-have-been-accidentally-caught-up-in-the-texas-crackdown-on-migrants
Lawmakers in Washington detail pre-emptive legislation designed to resist Texas' overreach in regard to transgender patient records: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/seattle-hospital-sues-ag-paxton-re-trans-healthcare-cites-shield-law-18236553
A shameful caving to conservative threats over a New Year's Eve drag show by a Grapevine restaurant: https://www.chron.com/food/article/texas-drag-show-cancelled-18584958.php
A Washington Post op-ed on the current abortion rights fight highlights the importance of the 2024 election: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/01/03/abortion-texas-5th-circuit-emergency/
Texas is dead last among U.S. states in personal freedom - except for campaign finance freedom, where we're #1: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2024/01/03/states-freedom-texas-tax-marijuana-school-choice-incarceration-abortion-laws/71936221007/
Thanks for listening! Please consider making a contribution to help Progress Texas continue our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that federal guidance does not compel doctors in Texas to provide abortion care, even if that care is the best treatment for a problematic pregnancy: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/02/us/texas-emergency-abortion-ban-appeal.html
...While the Biden administration asks the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in a 5th Circuit decision stopping federal border agents from removing razor wire placed on the border by Operation Lone Star: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-administration-asks-us-supreme-court-intervene-texas-border-row-2024-01-02/
...And New York City officials mull sending the NYPD to intercept buses of migrants sent from Texas to clandestine dropoff locations in New Jersey: https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/n-y-n-j-working-together-to-thwart-bus-operators-trying-to-circumvent-nycs-rules-on-asylum-seekers/
San Antonio school districts are preparing to go deep in to deficits in order to provide teacher and staff pay raises: https://www.kens5.com/article/news/education/texas-teacher-raises-legislature-school-districts-san-antonio/273-c660013b-28ce-4166-b508-bd055bf888db
...While San Antonio scores Gold Medal City status from CityHealth rankings: https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2024/01/02/san-antonio-only-gold-medal-city-in-texas-according-to-cityhealths-rankings-of-public-health-policy/
Dallas honors former U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, a major political force in North Texas and an iconic groundbreaker for both women and Black Texans, who passed away on New Year's Eve: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/12/31/eddie-bernice-johnson-who-broke-barriers-represented-dallas-in-long-house-career-dies/
Supporters of Texas secession are threatening to sue the state GOP following the rejection of a ballot item petition: https://www.expressnews.com/news/texas/article/texit-activists-threaten-lawsuit-against-state-gop-18577064.php
Governor Abbott is taking heat over the lackluster results of his supposed "largest property tax cut in history": https://www.newsweek.com/greg-abbott-faces-rebellion-over-texas-property-taxes-1857033
Calls rise for Ted Cruz to be banned from key championship sporting events as his apparent curse helps doom the Texas Longhorns to defeat in the College Football Playoff: https://www.newsweek.com/ted-cruz-banned-texas-sports-games-curse-longhorns-1857011
A Texas bishop takes the New York Times to task for a horrifying misunderstanding of "taco sauce": https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2024/01/02/texas-episcopal-bishop-schools-the-new-york-times-taco-sauce-is-not-tex-mex/3
Happy New Year and thanks for listening! Please consider making a contribution to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The closed-door meeting with top Mexican officials and representatives of the Biden administration is said to have been productive: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexico-leader-urges-us-invest-people-not-walls-ahead-blinken-meeting-2023-12-27/
...While the mayors of several Democratically-led U.S. cities plead with the federal government with help handling migrants dumped in their metros by Governor Abbott: https://www.westhawaiitoday.com/2023/12/28/nation-world-news/democratic-mayors-renew-pleas-for-federal-help-and-coordination-with-texas-over-migrant-crisis/
A look at the current battle lines in the abortion fight, which include much more public exposure for those leading the struggle than in years past: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/12/26/1221587212/abortion-year-in-review-2023-jane-roe-kate-cox
Texas college kids on winter break will return to their campuses in a few days to find all diversity offices closed: https://www.ksat.com/news/texas/2023/12/28/diversity-offices-on-college-campuses-will-soon-be-illegal-in-texas-as-30-new-laws-go-into-effect/
Other states have new laws firing up in the new year too - including Michigan's new common-sense gun safety measures: https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/a-look-at-gun-laws-set-to-take-effect-in-2024/#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17037575143283&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2Fdetroit%2Fnews%2Fa-look-at-gun-laws-set-to-take-effect-in-2024%2F
Also in the new year - which Democrat will face Ted Cruz? Colin Allred leads the fundraising race by a long shot: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/allred-gutierrez-ted-cruz-senate-race-18549975.php
Happy New Year and thanks for your support of Progress Texas in 2023! The Daily Dispatch returns on January 3, 2024. Please consider helping us continue our important work into '24 with a donation at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A team of U.S. officials led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken are scheduled to meet with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on border and immigration issues: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/27/us/politics/blinken-mexico-migrant-caravan.html
...While a scary interaction with Operation Lone Star agents experienced by an El Paso family provide a preview of likely outcomes of SB-4 should it be allowed to take effect in March: https://elpasomatters.org/2023/12/22/operation-lone-star-mistaken-stop-on-border/
...And the elimination of DEI offices at state public universities is creating new challenges to DACA recipients: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2023/12/26/how-texas-dei-ban-is-tripping-up-efforts-to-help-undocumented-students/
The Texas economy faces "mixed signals" as a new year approaches: https://www.dallasnews.com/business/2023/12/26/mixed-signals-texas-economy-exists-in-two-realities-heading-into-2024/
A lawsuit against a bitcoin mining company based in Channing, Texas provides insight into clandestine Chinese investment in that industry: https://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-mine-texas-lawsuit-links-to-chinese-investors-2023-12
The skirting of federal environmental regulations, under the gaze of TCEQ, has become common practice in Texas: https://houstonlanding.org/major-problem-in-texas-how-big-polluters-evade-federal-law-and-get-away-with-it/
And news of a robot attack at Tesla's Austin-area Gigafactory seems all too fitting in the universe of Elon Musk: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/tesla-engineer-robot-attack-texas-factory-b2469777.html
Thanks for listening! Please consider helping Progress Texas continue our important work into the new year with a donation at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
As we shut down what's been a year brimming with crazy in Texas politics - and steel ourselves for a 2024 likely to take the cake - we present the holiday wishes of our guests at our two 2023 holiday parties in Austin and Dallas! As progressives in Texas, what would we like to receive as gifts this holiday? We firmly believe that if we stay the course and persist, all of our dreams will come true. All of us at Progress Texas wish you a merry, memorable, and safe holiday - and a prosperous and progressive new year! Thanks for being part of our family.
Close out the year with an easy feel-good - a small donation to Progress Texas! Find out more at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Officials expected to enforce SB-4 and their observers see it as not only impossible, but rife with ethical and justice-related hazards: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/texas-sb-4-immigration-18568738.php
SB-4 is a "middle finger" to the United States and its Constitution: https://newrepublic.com/article/177725/texas-immigration-law-federal-government-constitution
New York City is watching closely as immigration policy here directly impacts quality of life there: https://www.nydailynews.com/2023/12/20/state-of-disorder-greg-abbotts-latest-demagoguery-on-migrants/
...While Abbott's providing of free trips to New York may be encouraging more migration: https://nypost.com/2023/12/22/news/us-bound-migrants-pouring-over-texas-border-looking-for-better-life/
...And with the feds held off for now, Texas National Guard troopers are hard at work putting in more razor wire at the border: https://www.wkbn.com/news/exclusive-new-concertina-wire-fencing-being-added-to-south-texas-border/
A children's hospital in Seattle has filed suit to resist orders from Ken Paxton to turn over the records of transgender Texans it has provided transition care: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/21/texas-attorney-general-trans-seattle-childrens/
A new editorial shows how every pregnant person in Texas could easily find themselves in the same situation as Kate Cox: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/columns/2023/12/20/texas-abortion-law-ban-kate-cox-lawsuit-supreme-court-ruling-pregnancy/71936050007/
Gillespie County Republicans have chosen to leave County elections infrastructure behind and hand-count their primary votes in March - an enormous, if not impossible task: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/21/texas-republicans-hand-count-votes-election-2024/
Thanks for listening! The Daily Dispatch will be off until Wednesday December 27. Please consider helping Progress Texas continue our important work into the new year with a donation at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Local law enforcement, especially in border communities, are not prepared to enforce SB-4 when it lands in March: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sb4-texas-immigration-law-enforcement-migrant-crisis/
...While Governor Abbott takes to the skies in his ever-expanding theater of migrant cruelty: https://www.axios.com/2023/12/21/texas-governor-charters-migrant-flight-chicago-border-protest-biden
...And federal authorities target Colony Ridge, previously targeted by right wing conspiracists, for predatory practices against Hispanic home buyers: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/20/us/colony-ridge-texas-builder-prosecution.html
A new strain of misinformation regarding trisomy 18, the condition afflicting the pregnancy of Kate Cox, is debunked: https://www.factcheck.org/2023/12/scicheck-post-spreads-misleading-information-about-texas-abortion-case/
...While new polling on abortion rights sheds light on why Republicans are desperate to change the subject: https://news.yahoo.com/poll-texas-abortion-case-is-a-warning-sign-for-republicans-193548558.html
Ken Paxton sues the U.S. Department of Transportation over new vehicular emissions rules: https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2023/12/20/texas-lawsuit-fhwa-greenhouse-gas-rules/
...While an Austin judge says Paxton and his aides must testify in that whistleblower suit brought by his former staffers: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2023/12/20/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-must-testify-in-whistleblower-case/71975188007/
A major new study finds over-reliance on natural gas-powered backup generators was key to the Winter Storm Uri disaster of 2021: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/texas-grid-over-relies-natural-gas-restore-power-after-blackouts-study-2023-12-19/
...While a new winter outlook from ERCOT is full of inaccurate climate statements that echo the talking points of climate change deniers: https://www.factcheck.org/2023/12/scicheck-post-spreads-misleading-information-about-texas-abortion-case/
U.S. Rep. Colin Allred of Dallas extends his polling lead in the race to challenge Ted Cruz next year for the Democrats: https://www.kxan.com/news/your-local-election-hq/allred-widens-lead-over-gutierrez-in-texas-senate-poll-cruz-leads-both-democrats/
...While Ted Cruz dominates the U.S. Senate in the number of tweets he sent this year - but still trailing bullshit fountain Chip Roy in the House: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/ted-cruz-chip-roy-tweet-more-than-anyone-else-in-congress-33364950
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The ACLU, alongside El Paso officials, have sued the state over Governor Abbott's signing of SB-4: https://newrepublic.com/post/177674/texas-just-passed-one-countrys-racist-immigration-laws
...El Paso's district attorney is one of the lawsuit's targets - though Bill Hicks' office has said they won't pursue SB-4 cases: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/19/us/el-paso-texas-migrant-arrest-suit.html
...The immigration advocacy group American Gateways is participating in the lawsuit: https://www.fox7austin.com/news/texas-immigration-law-sb-4
...ACLU chapters in New Mexico and other states have issued warnings to non-White residents regarding travel in Texas considering SB-4: https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/aclu-issues-warning-for-new-mexicans-traveling-to-texas/
...Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador criticizes Governor Abbott on political and religious grounds: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/mexicos-president-texas-governor-clash-immigration-rcna130466
...The Biden White House refers the matter to the federal court system: https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/19/politics/white-house-response-texas-law/index.html
...While a federal court stops U.S. Border Patrol agents from cutting razor wire put in place by Texas while their case on that topic is under appeal: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/19/us/texas-border-wire-biden-administration.html
Reacting to Colorado's shunning of Donald Trump, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick threatens to remove President Joe Biden from the Texas ballot: https://www.thedailybeast.com/texas-lt-guv-threatens-to-take-biden-off-states-ballot-after-colorado-ruling
Amarillo city officials continue debating whether to enact a so-called "abortion travel ban": https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/19/amarillo-abortion-trafficking-texas-bans#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17030248018867&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2023%2Fdec%2F19%2Famarillo-abortion-trafficking-texas-bans
ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas touts improvements to the power grid, but also hedges on possible threats to the grid's performance this winter: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/investigations/defenders/texas-power-grid-manager-touts-improvements-to-the-grid-but-warns-of-increasing-risks-of-outages-in-extreme-storm-events/269-4a1f8840-770d-4229-b062-3069d30ca54d
...While PUC officials will review enormously expensive new power grid rules: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-19/texas-to-revisit-power-reserve-policies-amid-spat-with-grid-watchdog
Texas leads the nation in annual population growth, according to new statistics: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/19/texas-2023-population-growth-census/
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
As expected, Governor Greg Abbott signed the blatantly unconstitutional SB-4 into law: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-immigration-law-sb4-signed-greg-abbott/
...The law mandates that judges send migrants in violation back to Mexico: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/texas-arrest-migrants-crossing-border-illegally-under-new-state-law-2023-12-18/
...El Paso's County Commissioners are in on an ACLU lawsuit against SB-4: https://kvia.com/news/2023/12/18/el-paso-county-commissioners-unanimously-vote-to-sue-state-of-texas-after-signing-of-sb4/
...While El Paso's sheriff's department worries it will further alienate the Hispanic community from law enforcement: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/18/us/abbott-texas-border-law-arrests.html
...Experts point out that immigration is akin to foreign policy - and that's why the federal government has primacy over immigration: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/12/18/texas-immigration-law-sb-4/71816160007/
...U.S. Rep Joaquin Castro and several other House Democrats have asked the U.S. Department of Justice to block SB-4: https://abc7.com/greg-abbott-texas-governor-sb4/14199461/
...Officials in Mexico have condemned SB-4, while Governor Abbott has no clear answer on how he'll address their objections: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/12/18/texas-will-begin-arresting-migrants-under-law-gov-greg-abbott-is-expected-to-sign-monday/
...Heartbreaking video of border officers ignoring a mother and her baby in the water in the Rio Grande reminds us of the human element of all of this: https://www.tpr.org/border-immigration/2023-12-18/video-shows-texas-national-guard-members-appearing-to-ignore-a-mother-and-babys-pleas-for-help-in-the-rio-grande
Governor Abbott has appointed Amarillo's Aaron Kinsey, avowed revisionist history and library censorship enthusiast, the new chair of the Texas State Board of Education: https://www.amarillopioneer.com/blog/2023/12/18/aaron-kinsey-appointed-sboe-chair
...Kinsey's campaign contributors are a cross-section of right-wing dark money crusaders: https://x.com/cjtackett/status/1736905176403914765?t=Ygi_kIzAD2TaQkhELhtXjQ&s=03
A new profile of Amanda Zurawski lays bare even further the insanity of the state's argument against the plaintiffs in the case having "standing": https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/12/amanda-zurawski-on-challenging-texas-abortion-law.html
And, congratulations to Minnie Payne, at 90 officially the eldest person ever to earn a graduate degree from the University of North Texas: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2023/12/18/oldest-University-North-Texas-masters-degree/6651702924774/
Thanks for listening and Happy Holidays! Please consider a small gift of support for Progress Texas at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The ACLU has prepared a legal challenge to the new Texas immigration bill SB-4, which it will file immediately after Governor Abbott signs it into law: https://wsbt.com/news/nation-world/aclu-prepping-lawsuit-awaiting-abbott-approval-of-controversial-immigration-law-southern-border-migrant-crisis-border-security-initiatives-american-civil-liberties-union-rio-grande-floating-barrier
...Meanwhile Abbott's migrant busing effort has caused major problems in all of its destination "sanctuary" cities: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/texas-gov-greg-abbott-divided-democrats-immigration-migrant-busing-rcna128815
Republicans struggle with messaging difficulties surrounding abortion as a big election year looms: https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/17/politics/texas-abortion-case-republicans-2024/index.html
...While in Texas, our abortion ban appears to be working just as their authors intended: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/17/opinion/kate-cox-abortion-texas-exceptions.html
A Houston court determines that Texas' power companies cannot be held liable for injury or death due to power outages during Winter Storm Uri: https://www.kut.org/energy-environment/2023-12-15/texas-power-plants-have-no-responsibility-to-provide-electricity-in-emergencies-judges-rule
Travis County's Republican Party wants primary votes to be counted by hand - which may jeopardize countywide voting locations: https://www.kut.org/politics/2023-12-15/voting-centers-in-travis-county-could-be-eliminated-for-the-upcoming-2024-march-primary
A new graph from the Texas Tribune shows the most and least liberal members of the Texas Senate: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/18/mark-jones-texas-senate-special-2023-liberal-conservative-scores/
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Senator Ted Cruz, sensing the volatility of the issue, continues dodging questions about developments in Texas surrounding our abortion bans: https://newrepublic.com/post/177569/ted-cruz-does-not-want-talk-texas-abortion-case
...In fact, the entire Republican Party appears queasy about it: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/republicans-struggle-defend-texas-abortion-law-cox-1234928770/
...The Texas business sector, normally steering clear of hot social issues, weighs in in a Zurawski amicus brief: https://thehill.com/business/4360255-texas-abortion-challenge-businesses-economy-bumble-amicus-brief/
..."Anti-abortion" and "pro-life" are seemingly no longer the same position: https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/4359376-texass-war-on-pregnant-women/
...Conservative political strategist Matthew Dowd relates a difficult pregnancy and its impact on his abortion views: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/kate-cox-ken-paxton-texas-abortion-rcna129617
In spite of a fall full of worry, Governor Abbott and ERCOT officials are suddenly very confident that the lights and heat will stay on this winter: https://abc13.com/ercot-texas-weather-power-grid-in-2021-winter-freeze/14184473/
...While climate disasters in Texas have led to an insurance crisis: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/carriers-reduce-coverage-texas-home-insurance-18491266.php
And Iowa provides a clear example of why Governor Abbott's private school voucher scam won't play out well for middle and lower income Texans: https://www.kcrg.com/video/2023/12/05/private-schools-raising-tuition-costs-after-school-voucher-bill-passes/
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Which Texans inspired us with their tireless work to press progress forward in Texas this year - and which Texans did all they could to keep us in the olden times? The whole Progress Texas staff is in on this one, and we've got lots of love (and shade) to dish out as we wrap up another nutty year in Texas politics with the ten best - and ten worst - Texans of 2023.
See the blog and follow along: https://progresstexas.org/blog/top-10-best-and-worst-texans-2023
Join the worldwide Humans Against Ted Cruz movement at https://humansagainsttedcruz.com/.
And learn more about the ongoing struggle for reproductive justice in Texas at https://progresstexas.org/roevolution.
Thanks for listening! Please consider making a donation to help us continue our important work at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The U.S. Supreme Court, dominated by conservative Trump appointees, is set to review a Texas judge's revoking of the FDA approval of the common abortion drug mifepristone: https://www.keranews.org/government/2023-12-13/u-s-supreme-court-to-consider-limits-on-abortion-medication-mifepristone
...The prospects of the SCOTUS review are "grave": https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2023-12-13/supreme-court-to-hear-case-determining-access-to-abortion-drug/
...Democrats rally around abortion rights as 2024's election looms: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/13/us/politics/abortion-texas-elections.html
...While Ted Cruz would rather talk about anything else: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/ted-cruz-kate-cox-texas-abortion
...Kate Cox is featured by the New York Times on The Daily podcast: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/14/podcasts/the-daily/texas-abortion-ban.html
...And the entire Texas Supreme Court is featured in a rogue's gallery - pay attention to John Phillip Devine and Jimmy Blacklock, both up for re-election next year: https://www.click2houston.com/news/politics/2023/12/14/who-are-the-texas-supreme-court-justices-who-ruled-against-kate-cox-in-abortion-case/
Southeast Texas U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls spills the obvious beans that the Biden impeachment inquiry is not about wrongdoing by Biden, but about re-electing Donald Trump: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/troy-nehls-biden-impeachment-inquiry-donald-trump-2024-1234927472/
...While U.S. Rep Joaquin Castro joins other Latino lawmakers to urge caution while the Biden administration discusses border reforms with Congress: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/13/texas-border-mexico-senate-white-house-foreign-aid/
A Dallas-area mailer criticizing U.S. Rep. Colin Allred's position on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict was produced by a conservative activist group and designed to divide progressives: https://x.com/stevanzetti/status/1735094087617761643?s=20
A new movie depicts a dystopian future in which Texas and California have seceded from the U.S. and joined forces - that's nuts, right? Trailer too: https://www.ktvu.com/news/new-movie-has-social-media-scratching-heads-over-texas-and-california-alliance
Thanks for listening! Please consider supporting Progress Texas' ongoing and important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The entire country is stunned over recent developments regarding abortion care for women with problematic pregnancies in Texas: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/what-does-texas-supreme-court-ruling-emergency-abortions-mean-patients-2023-12-12/
...The Texas Supreme Court regards Cox's legal plea as evidence she doesn't qualify for exception to the ban: https://x.com/AliceOllstein/status/1734372711332274677?s=20
...The reassuring language from the Court is a "trap" for Texas healthcare providers: https://www.vox.com/2023/12/12/23998301/kate-cox-texas-supreme-court-abortion-ken-paxton
...Legal experts interpret Ken Paxton's "extraordinary" threats against Texas doctors as his continued "enforcement through fear": https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/12/texas-abortion-ken-paxton-kate-cox
...One especially anti-choice Texas Supreme Court Justice, John Phillip Devine, is up for re-election in 2024: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/12/kate-cox-nonviable-pregnancy-judicial-control-abortion-texas.html
...Both Ted Cruz and John Cornyn dodge the issue altogether: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/ted-cruz-john-cornyn-avoid-questions-kate-cox-abortion-case-rcna129407#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17024320640662&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcnews.com%2Fpolitics%2Fcongress%2Fted-cruz-john-cornyn-avoid-questions-kate-cox-abortion-case-rcna129407
The U.S. Supreme Court clears the use of a Galveston voting map a lower court had found drawn on racist lines - a threat to the national Voting Rights Act: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/12/12/galveston-texas-voting-map-supreme-court/
ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas warns of impending power problems related to a lack of "investment in infrastructure": https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/ercot-blackout-pablo-vegas-18547148.php
Media Matters has sued Ken Paxton over his investigation into their coverage of X/Twitter: https://www.thedailybeast.com/media-matters-sues-texas-ag-ken-paxton-over-retaliatory-investigation
Craig Watkins, Dallas' first Black district attorney, has died at 56: https://www.keranews.org/news/2023-12-12/craig-watkins-dallas-countys-first-black-district-attorney-has-died
The Texas Democratic Party will host a virtual conversation today (Wed 12/13) at 12:30 PM with Emily's List and Planned Parenthood Texas Votes on recent abortion developments and their implication for next year's election: https://www.instagram.com/texasdemocrats/?hl=en
Thanks for listening! Please consider making a donation to help Progress Texas continue our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Texas Supreme Court ruled against Dallas-area mother Kate Cox, denying her emergency emergency care, forcing Cox to leave Texas to receive it: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/public-health/2023/12/11/kate-cox-flees-state-to-get-abortion-after-supreme-court-decision/
...Proving that the "exceptions" Texas law provides are really not intended to help Texas mothers: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/11/opinion/texas-abortion-ban.html
...And serves as the ironic "pro-life" protection of a doomed pregnancy at the cost of future children for Cox: https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/09/opinions/texas-abortion-laws-kate-cox-ziegler/index.html
The filing deadline for the 2024 election yesterday finds U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee squaring off with former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards for the U.S. House: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/11/sheila-jackson-lee-reelection-house/
...And State Rep. Victoria Neave Criado challenging State Senator Nathan Johnson: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/12/11/texas-rep-victoria-neave-criado-to-challenge-state-sen-nathan-johnson-in-march-primary/
...And a crowded field to face Ted Cruz, still dominated by U.S. Rep. Colin Allred and State Senator Roland Gutierrez: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/12/11/in-march-5-texas-primaries-down-ballot-contests-have-more-lone-star-spice/
Meanwhile, both Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton attack members of their own party out of retribution: https://www.kltv.com/2023/12/12/gov-abbott-endorses-opponents-east-texas-lawmakers-who-voted-against-school-vouchers/
MOVE Texas unveils a $4 million effort to mobilize young voters of color in Texas: https://themessenger.com/politics/move-texas-to-invest-4-million-to-mobilize-young-texas-voters-for-2024-exclusive
A new study finds the deterioration of Texas weather accelerating: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/weather/2023/12/11/its-not-your-imagination-texas-weather-is-getting-hotter-and-more-extreme-study-finds/
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
On Friday, the Texas Supreme Court stayed a lower court order that would have allowed Dallas mother Kate Cox to terminate a doomed pregnancy that threatens her health: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-abortion-ban-supreme-court-hold-kate-cox/
...Drawing national attention to the contrast of approaches to reproductive freedom between Democrats and Republicans: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4351771-five-things-to-know-texas-abortion-fight/
...Setting the stage for one of the primary issues that will decide next year's election: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/democrats-biden-campaign-condemn-blocking-emergency-abortion-texas-woman-2023-12-09/
...And providing a preview of what will happen if Trump and the Republicans prevail: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2023/12/10/texas-abortion-case-judge-permission-healthcare-decisions/71851981007/
Longtime Democratic Texas State Senator John Whitmire wins the race for Houston Mayor, raising important decisions for U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee: https://rollcall.com/2023/12/10/after-loss-in-mayors-race-jackson-lee-faces-decision/
...While Chris Hollins wins his run for Houston City Controller: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/houston-controller-runoff-results-18534780.php
...And Ken Paxton impeachment attorney Tony Buzbee's run for Houston City Council ends in defeat: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/09/tony-buzbee-houston-city-council-attorney-mary-nan-huffman/
While Ted Cruz and John Cornyn hold U.S. aid to Ukraine hostage, a top Russian lawmaker suggests that by his country's recent example, Texas should be returned to Mexico: https://www.newsweek.com/russia-guyana-venezuelan-mironov-alaska-texas-1851004
A black eye for Texas as Elon Musk reinstates Alex Jones to Twitter: https://apnews.com/article/alex-jones-x-account-elon-musk-90cfc990631dec5e8f337167fbe16372
Filmmaker Rob Reiner will release a new documentary on Christian Nationalism in February: https://www.al.com/life/2023/12/rob-reiner-drops-trailer-for-documentary-on-christian-nationalism.html
Thanks for listening! Please consider supporting our important work at Progress Texas at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Dallas-area mother of two Kate Cox is granted a temporary restraining order allowing her to terminate a dangerous and hopeless pregnancy: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-abortion-ban-kate-cox-emergency-fetus-trisomy-18-judge-maya-guerra-gamble/
...While Attorney General Ken Paxton threatens legal action against any doctor who provides abortion services in Texas: https://www.reuters.com/legal/texas-judge-allows-woman-get-emergency-abortion-despite-state-ban-2023-12-07/
...Which we agree, is "ghoulish": https://newrepublic.com/post/177398/texass-attorney-general-ghoulish-new-abortion-stance
Meanwhile, Paxton is failing to fully disclose his extensive real estate holdings in financial disclosure reports: https://www.kut.org/politics/2023-12-07/ken-paxton-texas-attorney-general-personal-finance-reports
Texas DPS's own inspector general concludes that while troopers did indeed mistreat migrants at the border as reported, those incidents didn't violate the law or agency policy: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/dps-migrant-report-18539662.php
Pale Horse Strategies, the consulting firm that started the Texas GOP's Nazi scandal, is undergoing a rebranding: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/07/pale-horse-strategies-west-fort-worth-management-nick-fuentes/
ERCOT says they're ready for winter - experts aren't so sure: https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2023-12-08/how-ercot-and-the-city-are-preparing-for-the-next-winter-storm/
Let's Get Busy Houston! The runoff election for mayor, city controller, and several at-large City Council seats is Saturday: https://www.axios.com/local/houston/2023/12/08/election-runoff-jackson-lee-whitmire
Our annual Ten Best And Worst Texans ranking is up - and THANKS for your input: https://progresstexas.org/blog/top-10-best-and-worst-texans-2023
Thanks for listening! Please consider helping Progress Texas continue our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Progress Texas has endorsed longtime U.S. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee in her run for mayor of Houston, which will be decided on Saturday in that city's very important runoff election, which will also determine Houston's next city controller (a race in which we've endorsed Chris Hollins) and several at-large City Council seats. Congresswoman Jackson Lee took a few minutes during a busy campaign day on the last day of early voting on Tuesday to tell us about her vision of the future Houston and how she plans to make that vision reality.
Find Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee at https://www.sheilaforhouston.com/.
Thanks for listening! Please consider supporting our ongoing work with a donation at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Abortion rights plaintiff Kate Cox's case will receive a temporary restraining order hearing this morning at 9am in the Austin court of judge Maya Guerra Gamble: https://www.youtube.com/live/0oCALdrAefY?si=HnOo90di5qICHhI0
...ABC News provides a good summary of the Cox case: https://abcnews.go.com/US/woman-suing-texas-abortion-bans-mother/story?id=105420503
Ken Paxton follows the right wing conspiracist narrative into a new lawsuit against the U.S. State Department: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/texas-claims-us-state-department-funds-tech-that-censors-conservative-news-2023-12-06/
State officials think they may have found a way around ludicrous election fraud lawsuits that threaten to delay the enactment of voter-approved constitutional amendments, including pension raises for retired teachers: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/06/greg-abbott-constitutional-amendments/
Both Ted Cruz and John Cornyn have voted down support for Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel as the GOP holds those commitments hostage over border concessions: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/06/ted-cruz-john-cornyn-texas-ukraine-israel-border/
An active-duty U.S. Air Force Reserve officer has been arrested in Dallas over his participation in the January 6 insurrection: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/crime/article282753693.html
An alarming wave of live music venue closures strikes D/FW: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/music-venues-across-dfw-announce-abrupt-closures-over-the-last-week/287-ed2fe45e-0ab3-4257-a761-aba3b6eeb0cc
Which Texas lawmakers were the best pushing for progress, and which were the worst in holding it back? Share your opinion: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeQw0grUZt65heKNP3p5zPPqc-mxloQHfYr4eqJ6eyM-o-cWw/viewformThanks for listening! Please consider supporting our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Kate Cox, a Dallas mother of two, is calling for a court order to allow her to receive abortion care amidst a dangerous pregnancy: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/05/us/texas-abortion-lawsuit.html
...Every day that passes increases the danger to Ms. Cox: https://progresstexas.org/woman-sues-texas-allow-abortion
SB-4, the blatantly unconstitutional immigration bill, could be signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott any day now: https://www.click2houston.com/news/investigates/2023/12/06/texas-on-the-cusp-of-enacting-new-immigration-enforcement-law/
...While lawmakers and advocates ask the Biden administration to step in: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/advocates-want-biden-reign-texas-immigration-crackdown-rcna128187
The fourth special session ends, taking school vouchers AND school funding with it: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/05/texas-house-adjourns-special-legislative-session/
...While a situation reminiscent of George Santos brews for a McKinney GOP House member: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/05/frederick-frazier-plea-deal-impersonating-public-servant-texas/
The Fort Worth Star Telegram's editorial board calls for the Texas Republican Party to reconsider its embrace of Nazism: https://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/editorials/article282706988.html
...While Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa calls for them to clean house: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/nazi-debate-prompts-texas-democrats-call-for-republican-chair-to-resign-18033609
The plight of high school student Darryl George continues as his fight to keep his traditional hairstyle meets unrelenting resistance from Barbers Hill ISD: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/05/us/darryl-george-hair-locs-texas.html
We're still seeking your feedback on the Best And Worst of Texas for 2023! Share your opinion: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeQw0grUZt65heKNP3p5zPPqc-mxloQHfYr4eqJ6eyM-o-cWw/viewform
Thanks for listening, and we hope to see you TONIGHT in Dallas for our second Progress Texas holiday party! Tickets at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The mindblowing news that Texas' Republican Party has chosen not to disavow Nazis continues to reverberate nationally: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/04/texas-republican-party-vote-antisemitism
...Representing the continued embrace of extremism on the political right in Texas: https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-gop-extremism-nazi-ban-policy-language/
...While the still-Nazi-free half of the Texas GOP at least pretends to recoil in horror: https://theweek.com/politics/texas-republicans-neo-nazis-resolution
An in-depth analysis of the Uvalde mass shooting police response debuts tonight on PBS: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/04/inside-the-uvalde-response-documentary-investigation/
...PBS explains their goals: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/uvalde-school-shooting-investigation-details-publishing-decision/
Texas continues sending hundreds of busloads of migrants into Denver, dropped without winter clothing and staged for dramatic effect: https://www.denverpost.com/2023/12/04/colorado-capitol-migrants-texas-denver/
Ken Paxton's lawsuit against Pfizer over their COVID-19 vaccine is backed by embarrassingly flawed and thoroughly debunked math: https://arstechnica.com/health/2023/12/texas-sues-pfizer-with-covid-anti-vax-argument-that-is-pure-stupid/
Who are the best and worst Texans of 2023? Share your opinion here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeQw0grUZt65heKNP3p5zPPqc-mxloQHfYr4eqJ6eyM-o-cWw/viewform
Thanks for listening - and if you're doing so in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, we'd love to see you tomorrow (Wednesday December 6) at our second Progress Texas holiday party! Details at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Texas Democratic Party has issued a resolution calling for peace in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict: https://www.texasdemocrats.org/media/texas-state-democratic-executive-committee-unanimously-passes-israeli-palestinian-resolution-calls-for-a-humanitarian-ceasefire-and-release-of-hostages
Meanwhile - over the same weekend - the Texas Republican Party struck from their pro-Israel resolution language condemning associations with Nazi sympathizers and Holocaust deniers: https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-gop-votes-against-ban-association-nazi-sympathizers-holocaust-deniers-2023-12
Also on that topic, controversy at UT Austin over the removal of two teaching assistants resulting from their support of Palestinian and Muslim students: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2023/12/01/message-about-gaza-leads-to-removal-of-ut-teaching-assistants/#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17015727091418&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dallasnews.com%2Fnews%2Feducation%2F2023%2F12%2F01%2Fmessage-about-gaza-leads-to-removal-of-ut-teaching-assistants%2F
Tomorrow's close of the 4th special session keeps vouchers at bay, but also may allow delays in voter-approved teacher pension raises: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/01/2023-election-challenge-teacher-pay-tax-cuts/
Ted...ahem, Rafael Cruz introduces legislation that would prevent employers from requiring employees to respect each other's chosen pronouns: https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/ted-cruz-preferred-name-pronouns-trans-bill-18524085.php
Houston's runoff election looms as early voting ends tomorrow and Election Day is next Saturday - Mayoral candidates Sheila Jackson Lee and John Whitmire will square off in a debate tonight: https://abc13.com/houston-mayor-runoff-election-mayoral-debate-sheila-jackson-lee/14128371/
Thanks for listening! Thanks to all who came out for Friday's Progress Texas Holiday Party in Austin - and we look forward to seeing you at Wednesday's party in Dallas! Tickets and more info at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
DPS officials have been ordered by a district judge to (finally) hand over its records regarding the Robb Elementary shooting in Uvalde: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/30/uvalde-shooting-investigation-records/
Ken Paxton's AG's office has sued Pfizer, claiming they inflated claims regarding their COVID-19 vaccine in order to maximize profits: https://www.reuters.com/legal/pfizer-is-sued-by-texas-over-covid-19-vaccine-claims-2023-11-30/
A judge has denied state requests to stop federal authorities from removing razor wire they've placed at the border with Mexico: https://www.axios.com/2023/12/01/texas-border-razor-wire-judge-ruling-immigration
ERCOT has been asked to rework their simulation process, after their own simulations show a high likelihood of blackouts in extreme weather conditions: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/investigations/defenders/texas-power-grid-blackouts-simulation-ercot-winter/269-01140c85-a9a3-43b1-be71-9f93f40b30b8
As the standoff over vouchers continues, Texas public school teachers continue to struggle with low pay: https://www.kut.org/education/2023-11-30/texas-teacher-salary-raise-school-voucher
Older Texans are struggling too, as increasing numbers of them are now spending over 30% of their income on housing: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/30/texas-seniors-housing-costs/
State authorities remain unprepared, and uninterested, in the huge population boom inbound for the Austin/San Antonio joint metro area: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/09/san-antonio-austin-growth-development/
Rice University moves the remains and a statue of its namesake founder, who was a slave owner: https://www.universityherald.com/articles/78194/20231130/rice-university-amends-history-slavery-relocating-founders-remains.htm
Thanks for listening! We hope to see you tonight in Austin, or Wednesday in Dallas, for this year's Progress Texas Holiday Parties! Tickets are available now at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A new report from Human Rights Watch highlights the deadly hazards Operation Lone Star high-speed chases are creating among our border communities: https://abc13.com/texas-dps-chase-human-rights-watch-report-operation-lone-star-reports-troopers-involved-in-chases/14119628/
The confusion surrounding abortion care for troubled pregnancies in Texas is receiving more national attention following the Zurawski hearing: https://prospect.org/health/2023-11-30-abortion-confusion-texas/
Are school vouchers inevitable in Texas? We say, hell no: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/11/30/are-school-vouchers-inevitably-going-to-pass-in-once-resistant-texas-house/
The conservative 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is considering new review requirements for Texas school book sellers: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/29/texas-hb-900-book-rating-lawsuit-appeal/
A national professor's fellowship at UT has been dismantled under SB-17, which outlaws DEI initiatives at Texas public universities: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/local/2023/11/29/public-voices-fellowship-university-of-texas-austin-op-ed-project-underrepresented-opinion-closes/71733167007/
Your homeowner's insurance bill is indeed rising - and it's because of climate change: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/30/texas-homeowner-insurance-climate-change-costs/
Thanks for listening! Let us know your opinion on the Best And Worst of our state lawmakers at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeQw0grUZt65heKNP3p5zPPqc-mxloQHfYr4eqJ6eyM-o-cWw/viewform, and grab your tickets to our upcoming holiday parties tomorrow and Wednesday at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Much discussion of yesterday's Texas Supreme Court hearing of the Zurawksi vs. State Of Texas case: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/state/2023/11/29/texas-supreme-court-hears-case-challenging-texas-abortion-bans-health-risks-pregnancy-women/71727577007/
...Amanda Zurawski appeared after the hearing on MSNBC's The Reid Out show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRZM63wun-Y
Governor Abbott, in lieu of announcing a fifth special session, has begun endorsing pro-voucher primary challengers to sitting Republican House members who voted against vouchers: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/28/new-article-greg-abbott-school-vouchers-hugh-shine-endorse/
The international bridge at Eagle Pass has been closed to incoming traffic from Mexico until further notice: https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/bridge-in-eagle-pass-shutting-down-to-vehicles-border-patrol-eagle-pass-mexico-texas-immigration-migrants-illegal-undocumented/273-405e5169-bf7d-4351-8f52-640765a5612d
A new twist in the Galveston voting maps case could threaten the Voting Rights Act: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/28/galveston-texas-voter-map-case-appeals-court
Four "emerging" Texas public universities stand to improve their national standing with new voter-approved state funding: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/state-policy/2023/11/27/game-changer-research-ranking-texas-universities
...While a "red state brain drain" is well underway: https://newrepublic.com/article/176854/republican-red-states-brain-drain
Battery operators, seen as a possible solution to Texas power grid woes, are facing difficulties of ERCOT's creation: https://www.expressnews.com/business/article/texas-battery-operators-worry-new-ercot-regs-18517667.php
Legendary Texas progressive Jim Hightower talks about the history of progress in the Lone Star State in a new episode of the Marc Steiner podcast: https://youtu.be/TmBI9HpEolY?si=nXtfln-3ZKxSWzAo
Thanks for listening! Grab your tickets for our upcoming Austin and Dallas holiday parties now - https://progresstexas.org/.
Abortion rights activists across the country were glued to this morning's hearing at the Texas Supreme Court of the State appeal of a lawsuit brought by 20 Texas women and two doctors whose lives have been upended by our state's poorly-written and carelessly-implemented abortion bans since the fall of Roe v Wade. We convened an expert panel as the hearing closed late this morning: State Representative and longtime reproductive freedom advocate Donna Howard, veteran Texas civil rights attorney Jason Smith and attorney Austin Kaplan, who is directly involved representing the plaintiffs, all share their views on today's event and what's next as the Court considers the case. Plus, in case you missed it, the full Court hearing of the Zurawski case is included here, beginning at the 32-minute mark.
Find Rep. Donna Howard at https://house.texas.gov/members/member-page/?district=48.
Find Austin Kaplan at https://kaplanlawatx.com/.
And find Jason Smith at https://letsgotocourt.com/.
Thanks for listening! There's still time to grab your tickets for our upcoming Holiday Parties, in Austin on Friday 12/1 and in Dallas on Wednesday 12/6. Hope to see you! More at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Zurawski vs State Of Texas case will be the subject of a hearing at the Texas Supreme Court this morning: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/11/28/1215463289/texas-abortion-lawsuit-texas-supreme-court
...Livestream link: https://www.texasbarcle.com/CLE/sc.asp
Will there be a fifth special session? No word yet from the Governor: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/texas-legislature-recesses-with-school-choice-legislation-still-in-limbo-will-governor-abbott-call-a-fifth-special-session
We're also watching for Governor Abbott to sign SB4, and the legal backlash certain to follow: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/yall-itics/yall-itics-texas-border-to-become-the-show-me-state-when-sb-4-signed-into-law/287-87be0e16-ee85-4a2b-88e9-5d3ba40977d8
...And which would come as deadly high speed police chases of suspected unlawful migrants are at an all-time high: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/24/us/texas-border-police-chases.html
...A new Human Rights Watch report illuminates the high-speed chase problem: https://www.ktep.org/2023-11-26/human-rights-watch-challenges-texas-dps-high-speed-pursuit-policy
...And while economic numbers regarding immigrant-led families show them to be a vital part of the Texas economy: https://www.statesman.com/story/opinion/columns/your-voice/2023/11/20/opinion-immigrants-contribute-and-embody-the-texas-spirit-so-why-does-the-gop-vilify-them/71594664007/
...And while Vice President Kamala Harris spoke in Houston yesterday, touting the Biden administration's support of minority-owned businesses: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/27/kamala-harris-vice-president-houston/
Texas is now leading the nation in dropping children from Medicaid coverage by all measures: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/public-health/2023/11/23/more-than-810000-texas-children-booted-from-medicaid-coverage/
...While demand on our state's food banks has not dropped back to pre-pandemic levels: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/28/texas-food-banks-high-demand-snap/
Progress Texas is looking for your input on our annual Best And Worst Of Texas rundown: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeQw0grUZt65heKNP3p5zPPqc-mxloQHfYr4eqJ6eyM-o-cWw/viewform
And this Giving Tuesday, we'd appreciate your support via a donation - or better yet, by joining us for one of our upcoming Holiday Parties! Details at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Zurawski v State Of Texas case is set to be heard by the all-Republican Texas Supreme Court tomorrow: https://www.npr.org/2023/11/26/1215227706/texas-supreme-court-to-hear-case-on-state-abortion-laws-and-pregnancy-complicati
...Watch via this livestream link: https://www.texasbarcle.com/CLE/sc.asp
Ted Cruz is ignoring criticism for incorrectly characterizing the auto crash near the Canadian border on Wednesday as a "terrorist attack: https://www.indy100.com/politics/ted-cruz-rainbow-bridge-explosion
...While Texas progressives continue sizing up Democratic contenders to challenge Cruz next year: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/11/22/contrasting-styles-emerge-in-democratic-primary-to-face-sen-ted-cruz/
...Including a snapshot from KXAN in Austin: https://youtu.be/CHTpngo0ogs?si=CmJjVweGKjdA22Pv
Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Houston today to press the Biden campaign's outreach to Latino voters: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/24/kamala-harris-houston-visit-hispanic/
ERCOT is now predicting about a one in six chance of rolling blackouts this winter - if conditions are normal: https://www.chron.com/weather/article/ercot-texas-rolling-blackout-winter-18514358.php
Texas comes in dead last in a ranking of U.S. states based on personal freedoms: https://www.newsweek.com/texas-least-free-state-personal-freedom-index-1846236
Thanks for listening - our Progress Texas Holiday Parties are coming up this Friday and next Wednesday! Grab your tickets at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Several factors paint a picture of strategy for Governor Greg Abbott in vying to be Donald Trump's running mate: https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2023/11/20/greg-abbott-vice-president-2024-texas-gov
...While Abbott endorses 58 Texas House members who voted his way on vouchers last week: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/as-promised-gov-greg-abbott-endorses-republicans-who-supported-school-vouchers-and-excludes-incumbent-opponents/
...And prominent Paxton impeachment leader and voucher opponent Rep. Andrew Murr has decided he's had enough: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/20/andrew-murr-reelection/
Ahead of next week's Texas Supreme Court hearing of the Zurawksi case, a group of Texas business leaders weighs in against our state's draconian abortion policies: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/texas-businesses-say-abortion-ban-costs-state-nearly-15-billion-a-year/
...While Democratic Senator Nathan Johnson files a bill opposing local abortion travel bans: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4319236-texas-bill-would-block-local-abortion-travel-bans/
Ken Paxton's office targets Media Matters on the heels of Elon Musk's defamation lawsuit against the non-profit watchdog: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/20/texas-ken-paxton-elon-musk-media-matters/
Texas State University will make history as the site of the first-ever Presidential debate to be held in Texas: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/county/2023/11/20/texas-state-to-host-first-2024-presidential-debate/71656238007/
Austin's Mobile Loaves and Fishes celebrates 25 years of service: https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/25-years-local-non-profit-is-national-model-for-tackling-homelessness/
New demographic data shows new Texas transplants as a significant factor in our economic growth: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/20/texas-2023-population-growth-demographics/
Thanks for listening! The Daily Dispatch is off for the holiday and will return on Monday November 27th - meanwhile, grab your tickets for our Austin and/or Dallas Holiday Parties at https://progresstexas.org/! Hae a great and safe holiday.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
As vouchers crashed and burned in the House on Friday, Governor Abbott promises to keep pushing: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2023/11/19/abbotts-next-move-unclear-after-school-choice-defeat-in-texas-house/71585560007/
Abbott hung out with Donald Trump and endorsed his run for President on the border this weekend: https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/19/politics/trump-us-mexico-border-abbott/index.html
The Texas State Board of Education followed through on a threat to reject science books including the connection between fossil fuels and climate change: https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/msnbc/texas-science-textbooks-climate-change-rcna125841
ERCOT has scrapped plans to revive old, outdated power plants: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/ercot-cancels-program-to-boost-power-reserves-ahead-of-potentially-precarious-winter/3390785/
...While summer heat is confirmed to have damaged Texas economically: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2023/11/20/texas-heat-isnt-just-an-inconvenience-its-an-economic-drag-too/
The U.S. Senate's Democratic campaign chairman takes aim at Ted Cruz: https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/19/politics/senate-democratic-campaign-chairman-seeks-to-defy-odds-amid-manchin-retirement-and-sets-sights-on-cruz-and-scott/index.html
A journalism series at KXAN TV in Austin focuses on attacks on the LGBTQ+ community by Texas lawmakers in 2023: https://www.kxan.com/state-of-texas/state-of-texas-special-edition-explores-record-lgbtq-legislative-proposals/
A CNN op-ed explores the lasting emotional damage that survivors of mass shootings suffer, including kids who made it through the Uvalde shooting: https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/19/opinions/gun-violence-uvalde-child-survivors-campoamor/index.html
The D/FW metroplex exceeds 8 million residents for the first time as our urban centers now contain a full 2/3 of Texas' population overall: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas/2023/11/20/with-8-million-residents-d-fw-is-largest-texas-metro-texas-demographic-center-estimates/
Thanks for listening - and we'd love to meet you in person at one of our two upcoming holiday parties! Details and tickets at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A school funding bill including vouchers is up for a full House debate and vote today: https://www.kut.org/politics/2023-11-16/the-texas-house-will-vote-on-school-vouchers-friday-heres-what-to-expect
...Odds of it passing are slim, but crazier things have happened: https://news4sanantonio.com/news/local/will-school-choice-pass-in-the-texas-house-tomorrow
A poll of his constituents conducted by U.S. House Rep. Greg Casar indicates heavy Democratic support for a cease-fire in the Israel/Hamas conflict: https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/greg-casar-gaza-ceasefire-poll/
The Washington Post has published a photo essay including the most graphic images seen publicly of the aftermaths of both the Uvalde and Sutherland Springs mass shootings: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2023/ar-15-force-mass-shootings/
The nation is noticing - with some bewilderment - that a new Texas immigration bill, set to be signed into law, would usurp Federal immigration authority: https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2023-11-16-texas-republicans-maniacs-megalomaniacs/
...While experts find Republican notions of a "terrorist highway" across the Mexican border preposterous: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/texas-border-terror-watchlist-18496025.php
The Texas State Board of Education, having voiced opposition to accurate climate change and evolutionary information in new science books, is set to vote on them today: https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2023/11/will-new-science-textbooks-in-texas-accurately-depict-climate-change-some-worry-they-wont/
The launch of SpaceX's Starship rocket has been delayed and is now set for tomorrow - Saturday November 18 - at 7am Central: https://www.space.com/spacex-starship-second-space-launch-attempt-webcast
Thanks for listening! Join us for one of our upcoming Holiday Parties - information on tickets and sponsorships, and other ways to support Progress Texas in our important work, at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Six more plaintiffs have joined the lawsuit, spearheaded by Amanda Zurawski, over Texas abortion laws that led to life-threatening medical situations for them: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/11/15/1213188342/20-women-sue-texas-over-abortion-laws
Officials in Mexico push back against new, unconstitutional immigration legislation in Texas: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/mexico-deportation-law-18494150.php
...One Houston immigration attorney thinks SB4 is entirely unworkable in reality: https://news.yahoo.com/houston-area-officials-texas-bill-025800209.html
Enormous amounts of public school funding are a bait-and-switch for vouchers: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/11/16/house-education-chief-tries-to-pass-texas-school-choice-bill-with-shrinking-wad-of-cash/
Donald Trump will be in Texas this weekend, and Governor Abbott is expected to endorse Trump's run for re-election: https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/15/politics/abbott-expected-endorse-donald-trump/index.html
A convention of Texas secessionists envisions an independent Nation of Texas with "no liberals or poor people": https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/15/texas-secession-texit/
Officials at UT Austin are hurriedly dismantling any trace of DEI in advance of a new law taking effect January 1: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/education/university-of-texas/ut-austin-dei-law-changes/269-57d6e995-c80b-46a7-b5fb-5dcb11f96579#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17001257422314&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kvue.com%2Farticle%2Fnews%2Feducation%2Funiversity-of-texas%2Fut-austin-dei-law-changes%2F269-57d6e995-c80b-46a7-b5fb-5dcb11f96579
...While a federal judge expresses skepticism about motivations behind a Texas ban of the use of TikTok on state college campuses: https://www.expressnews.com/news/education/article/tiktok-ban-texas-universities-federal-lawsuit-18495277.php
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro wants a federal investigation over the Warner Bros. shelving of Coyote Vs. Acme: https://thehill.com/business/4309998-joaquin-castro-federal-probe-warner-bros/
Elon Musk's SpaceX has been cleared by the FAA to launch its Starship rocket from Boca Chica Friday morning at 7am: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/space/article/spacex-federal-approval-second-starship-launch-18490997.php
Thanks for listening! Grab your tickets for our 2023 Holiday Parties, and consider pitching in to support our important work, at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Texas House GOP passed the highly demonstrative and unconstitutional immigration bill SB4 last night - it's headed for the Governor's desk under threat of legal challenge: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2023/11/14/texas-approves-bill-arrest-deport-people-suspected-illegal-immigration/71579308007/
Over half of the Texas GOP delegation in the U.S. House voted against their own party's efforts to avoid a government shutdown yesterday: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/14/government-shutdown-continuing-resolution/
The Republican-dominated Texas State Board of Education is opposing information in proposed science textbooks regarding climate change and evolution: https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/climate-change-textbooks-18491484.php
Additional context into the Sherman ISD theater gender policy situation: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/14/us/trans-actor-oklahoma-sherman-texas.html
A lawsuit filed against Ken Paxton's office by whistleblowers he fired in 2021 can proceed in Travis County: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/14/ken-paxton-whistleblower-lawsuit/
Lubbock's petition-forced marijuana decriminalization measure will go before voters in May after being voted down by the Lubbock City Council: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/14/texas-marijuana-vote-lubbock/
The Central Texas Food Bank is in dire need of volunteers ahead of the holiday rush: https://www.kut.org/austin/2023-11-14/central-texas-food-bank-faces-a-critical-need-for-volunteers-this-holiday-season
Thanks for listening! Grab your tickets for our Austin and Dallas Holiday Parties, and consider making a donation to help us continue our important work, at https://progresstexas.org/.
Governor Abbott, so far, has held true to his threat to keep the Texas Legislature in Austin - in many cases, hundreds of miles away from their homes, families, jobs and businesses - until they finally cave on multiple decades of resistance to school vouchers. We're proud to be joined by two lawmakers with a front row seat to Abbott's charade: Senator Sarah Eckhardt of Austin and Rep. James Talarico of Round Rock share their perspectives on why vouchers are bad for Texas, who's really behind Abbott's relentless campaign for them, and what the likely eventual outcome may be.
Find Senator Sarah Eckhardt at https://senate.texas.gov/member.php?d=14, and Representative James Talarico at https://house.texas.gov/members/member-page/?district=50.
Thanks for listening - and we'd love to meet YOU in person at one of our two upcoming 2023 Holiday Parties! Details and tickets at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A national energy analysis shows that ERCOT remains vulnerable to natural gas-related outages in freezing weather as winter approaches: https://www.kvue.com/article/weather/texas-grid-conditions-this-winter/269-d0171aff-35e8-44b9-b259-10b69c8e9153#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16998983290299&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kvue.com%2Farticle%2Fweather%2Ftexas-grid-conditions-this-winter%2F269-d0171aff-35e8-44b9-b259-10b69c8e9153
Joe Manchin's exit makes defeating Ted Cruz next year more a necessity than a luxury: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/11/13/with-losses-looming-elsewhere-national-democrats-target-ted-cruz-in-texas/
...Democratic candidate Colin Allred makes his case to replace Cruz: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/allred-on-senate-run-we-cant-afford-six-more-years-of-ted-cruz
A big win in Sherman as the local ISD reverses a policy that upended a student production of Oklahoma! over gender roles: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2023/11/13/sherman-isd-transgender-student-school-board-meeting/#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16999456040093&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dallasnews.com%2Fnews%2Feducation%2F2023%2F11%2F13%2Fsherman-isd-transgender-student-school-board-meeting%2F
...While a new investigation reveals a vast network of conservative PACs working to take over school boards statewide: https://www.texasobserver.org/school-board-pacs-consultants-right-wing/
Texans with compromised health are now more at risk due to a new law preventing employers from requiring COVID vaccines: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/13/texas-disabled-covid-vaccine-ban/
Demographic, economic and political change paints an interesting picture of Texas' future: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/13/us/texas-identity-population-politics-future.html
Thanks for listening! Grab your tickets for our upcoming Austin and Dallas holiday parties, and consider making a donation to support our important work, at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A bill including private school vouchers was approved in committee on Friday and is likely to see a full vote on the House floor: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/10/texas-house-vote-committee-school-vouchers/
Abbott's stubbornness on vouchers is related to his national political ambitions: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/11/10/texas-gov-greg-abbott-thrust-in-middle-of-gop-infighting-hampering-school-choice-agenda/
School safety funding advanced on Friday as well: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/10/texas-house-school-safety-funding/
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio warns against GOP rhetoric threatening military action at the border: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/10/joaquin-castro-latinos-republicans/
A Republican election loser loses again in court and will not get an election do-over: https://apnews.com/article/election-lawsuit-texas-harris-county-67dc7dc3055c684fed1349060de69d6f
Sherman ISD backs down on its anti-trans theater policy - but also wants its theater department to perform a children's version of Oklahoma!: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/texas-trans-student-oklahoma-18485660.php
A conservative Tyler bishop is removed from his post by Pope Francis, likely over his public critiques of the pontiff: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/11/world/europe/pope-francis-joseph-strickland.html
Thanks for listening! Find your tickets to our Austin and Dallas holiday parties and consider making a donation to help us continue our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
"Texas Republican Civil War" continues into the fourth "special" session: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/texas-republican-civil-war-in-new-phase-with-fourth-special-session-17847543
...While private school voucher opponents, for now, are unswayed: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/09/texas-house-vouchers-education/
...And the financial aspects of voucher programs appear ever more unsustainable: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2023/11/09/texas-school-choice-proposal-could-cost-2b-by-2028/
Meanwhile hateful new border security measures - again - proceed through the session: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/texas-committee-advances-controversial-immigration-enforcement-bill/
...And that deadly high-speed chase that took eight lives on Wednesday highlights the public hazards posed by Operation Lone Star: https://apnews.com/article/texas-immigration-border-pursuits-dfa9e4c89631033e27acd0447a32a0af
A Dallas Morning News op-ed makes good points about the folly of Sherman ISD's gender policy regarding school plays - but Progress Texas does NOT agree with their assertions regarding gender affirming care: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2023/11/10/trans-student-in-sherman-is-not-a-threat/
New details emerge on the departure of a Texas energy grid watchdog: https://www.kut.org/energy-environment/2023-11-09/ercot-texas-power-grid-watchdog
Progress Texas endorsee for Houston Mayor Shiela Jackson Lee scores the endorsement of outgoing Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner: https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/south-texas-el-paso/news/2023/11/09/houston-mayor-endorses-jackson-lee-
A security guard at an Allen elementary school, present due to new state law, leaves his firearm behind in a school bathroom: https://www.kwtx.com/2023/11/09/security-guard-leaves-gun-unattended-north-texas-elementary-school/
Colin Allred chides Lubbock County over its abortion travel ban: https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/opinion/columns/2023/11/09/colin-allred-laws-banning-texas-women-driving-other-states-un-american/71519977007/
San Antonio's City Council approves the largest municipal solar project in Texas: https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2023/11/09/san-antonio-city-council-approves-largest-municipal-solar-project-in-texas/
Austin's City Council approves a full property tax exemption for approved child care centers: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/austin-city-council-makes-history-by-eliminating-property-taxes-for-childcare-providers
Tickets are on sale for our 2023 Holiday Parties! Grab your tickets at https://progresstexas.org/.
Here in Texas, we watch from afar as state after state after state embraces the therapeutic and financial benefits of marijuana decriminalization. Many of us have resigned ourselves to the idea that the Lone Star State is simply and probably permanently a no-fun zone - but, medical cannabis IS a reality here, though most of us don't realize the opportunity exists. We welcome Terrence Baugh of the medical cannabis company GoodBlend to the mic for an explanation of current policy in Texas, how YOU can reap the benefits, and what to expect from the future of pot policy here at home.
Learn more about GoodBlend at https://tx.goodblend.com/.
Thanks for listening! Please consider making a donation to help Progress Texas continue our important work at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The fourth special session this year is stretching the patience of Texas lawmakers to the brink: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/08/texas-legislature-fourth-special-session/
Voter turnout was strong for an off-year election: https://www.sos.state.tx.us/about/newsreleases/2023/110823.shtml
...Especially in North Texas: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2023/11/09/score-one-for-democracy-voter-turnout-in-north-texas-jumped/
...And what happens next with Prop 7? https://www.kut.org/energy-environment/2023-11-08/texans-approved-billions-in-spending-on-power-plants-what-comes-next
...While two key Texas energy sector players announce their exits: https://www.dallasnews.com/business/energy/2023/11/08/two-top-texas-electric-grid-regulators-are-resigning-at-a-critical-time/
...And even on a mild fall day, ERCOT worries about tight power supply: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/ercot-tight-grid-conditions-november-18478017.php
...And Texas petroleum producers are emitting huge amounts of methane: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/08/texas-methane-oil-and-gas-study-climate
An immigration enforcement-related high speed chase results in 8 deaths southwest of San Antonio: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/08/south-texas-highway-crash-migrants-smuggler-eight-dead
Sherman ISD's gender-strict theater policy is now affecting dozens of students: https://www.kxii.com/2023/11/08/more-students-lose-theater-roles-sherman-isd-gender-rule/
Tickets are on sale now for Progress Texas' Holiday Parties in Austin on December 1 (https://act.progresstexas.org/a/holidayparty23austin) and Dallas on December 6 (https://act.progresstexas.org/a/holidayparty23dallas) - come see us!
Thanks for listening! Please consider making a donation to help us continue our important work: https://progresstexas.org/donate.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Last night's election results yielded both great and not-so-great news regarding those 14 constitutional amendment propositions: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/11/07/us/elections/results-texas.html
Both of our endorsed candidates in Houston's local elections go to runoffs on December 9, including mayoral candidate Sheila Jackson Lee: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/07/houston-mayor-race-2024-results/
...And City Controller candidate Chris Hollins: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/houston-controller-election-results-18472540.php
...Meanwhile, great news across the country for progressives and abortion rights advocates: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/abortion-rights-center-tuesdays-ohio-virginia-elections-2023-11-07/
Governor Greg Abbott, as threatened and expected, has declared an unprecedented fourth special Legislative session to begin immediately: https://abc13.com/texas-house-adjourns-2023-third-special-session-without-passing-school-vouchers-or-border-security/14022769/
Ken Paxton sues the whistleblowers who landed him in impeachment: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/11/07/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-sues-whistleblowers-wins-temporary-halt-to-litigation/
...While Yelp pushes back on Paxton's attempt at censoring their content: https://www.courthousenews.com/yelp-accuses-texas-attorney-general-of-censorship-in-crisis-pregnancy-center-dispute/
Grim gun death statistics swirl around a Texas-related 2nd Amendment case currently before the U.S. Supreme Court: https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2023/11/07/record-deaths-in-texas-as-supreme-court-decides-whether-some-domestic-violence-perpetrators-can-have-guns/
A Republican candidate for the Granbury City Council has been arrested for possessing child pornography (and still got over 600 votes): https://www.huffpost.com/entry/texas-republican-child-abuse-arrest_n_654a6d6fe4b0e63c9dc124fe
A Longview man has pled guilty to two felony counts related to the January 6 insurrection: https://www.ktbs.com/news/east-texas/east-texas-man-who-claimed-government-plot-takes-plea-deal-in-jan-6-case/article_2a5e3d70-7e0b-11ee-956d-6b62cdaaeee4.html
A transgender student in Sherman has been banned from the leading male role in his school's production of Oklahoma!: https://thehill.com/homenews/lgbtq/4297925-trans-student-texas-kicked-out-of-lead-role-musical/#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16994177821857&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fhomenews%2Flgbtq%2F4297925-trans-student-texas-kicked-out-of-lead-role-musical%2F
That Lubbock marijuana decriminalization petition is set to be considered by the Lubbock City Council next Tuesday: https://www.everythinglubbock.com/news/local-news/effort-to-decriminalize-marijuana-in-lubbock-heads-to-nov-14-hearing/
Thanks for listening and for VOTING! Please consider helping us continue our important work at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Voter turnout is up for this off-cycle election in North Texas: https://www.keranews.org/government/2023-11-06/early-voting-doubled-in-north-texas-for-this-years-constitutional-amendment-election-heres-why
...But across the state, it's pretty typically dismal: https://www.kxan.com/news/your-local-election-hq/why-texas-constitutional-amendment-elections-historically-have-low-voter-turnout/
...Which reminds us to remind you to VOTE NO on Prop 7: https://www.kut.org/energy-environment/2023-11-06/proposition-7-would-provide-billions-in-incentives-for-new-power-plants-in-texas
Meanwhile the third special session of the Legislature ends today: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2023/11/06/school-choice-could-head-to-fourth-session-deal-unclear/71442827007/
Katy ISD's policy requiring the outing of transgender students to their families likely violates state ethics code: https://houstonlanding.org/by-outing-19-students-to-their-parents-katy-isd-violated-texas-ethics-codes-for-educators/
...While book bans in Texas continue apace: https://dallasweekly.com/2023/11/amidst-growing-politicization-book-bans-become-increasingly-common-in-texas/
...And a Mexia teacher, convicted of election violations in 2020, finds her teaching license under attack: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investigations/article/brunner-paxton-voter-fraud-license-18459837.php
A group of rental houses in Bell County, leased by the state to house foster kids, have descended into chaos: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/06/texas-foster-kids-cwop/
A gathering of right-wing fringe "eugenics" supporters is scheduled for the first weekend of December at the Line Hotel in Austin: https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2023-11-03/the-eugenic-circus-comes-to-town/
Matt Rinaldi, chair of the Republican Party of Texas, intends to wield the outsized power the micro-minority of GOP primary voters to direct the party at large: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/matt-rinaldi-texas-gop/
Thanks for listening and DON'T FORGET TO VOTE TODAY! Find our popular voter guide and consider making a donation to help us continue our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
As the end of the current special session looms tomorrow, Texas Republicans are continuing their press for private school vouchers: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/03/texas-house-school-vouchers-funding/
...While odious immigration reform bills appear to be on hold for the NEXT special session: https://www.keranews.org/texas-news/2023-11-05/texas-lawmakers-put-the-brakes-on-sweeping-immigration-enforcement-bill-for-now
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will take up a lower court decision that eliminated a key avenue to confidential teen access to contraception today: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/06/texas-5th-circuit-kacmsaryk-birth-control/
GOP misinformation pushing for the passage of Prop 7 continues as Election Day approaches tomorrow - Progress Texas recommends a NO vote, as it does nothing to further climate change solutions: https://www.expressnews.com/business/article/proposition-7-pitched-solution-texas-creaky-18459263.php
Meet the Christian Nationalist crusader from Texas with decades of affiliation with the new Speaker of the House: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/03/david-barton-mike-johnson-texas-church-state-christianity/
Texas State University's president and head football coach jump into the San Marcos River in celebration of their football team's post-season eligibility: https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/texas-states-g-j-kinne-school-president-fulfill-promise-to-jump-into-river-after-clinching-bowl-eligibility/
And congratulations to Willie Nelson upon his induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/willie-nelson-missy-elliott-george-michael-sheryl-crow-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame/
Thanks for listening - and DON'T FORGET TO VOTE tomorrow! Grab our handy voter guide and consider making a donation to help us continue our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A dark money operation funded by Tim Dunn of Defend Texas Liberty is pushing against a desperately-needed school bond proposal in Midland: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/02/tim-dunn-move-midland-school-bond/
Moves made two decades ago to make certification to teach elementary school in Texas had the side effect of driving down wages: https://theconversation.com/texas-tried-to-fix-its-teacher-shortage-by-lowering-requirements-the-result-was-more-new-teachers-but-at-lower-salaries-213962
Changes to requirements for universities to achieve "R1" research institution status could benefit several Texas campuses: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/02/texas-research-universities-carnegie-tier-one/
The CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase warns Texas officials not to tarnish their business-friendly environment by interfering in the internal affairs of large financial firms: https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/jpmorgans-jamie-dimon-warns-business-friendly-texas-laws-wall-street-firms.amp
Still no apology from Senator John Cornyn for remarks found offensive by Native American groups: https://www.alternet.org/senate-republican/
Republican Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell Jr. finds himself in a scrape with a fringe "election fraud" activist: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/02/texas-election-worker-heart-attack-conspiracy-theory/
Arlington gets a national profile boost in the wake of the first Texas Rangers World Series championship: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/02/us/texas-rangers-world-series-arlington.html
Austin has become the biggest U.S. city to stop requiring parking minimums for new real estate projects: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/02/austin-minimum-parking-requirements-housing-shortage/
Harris County has been found to be officially the most ethnically-diverse county in Texas: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/2023/houston-population-ethnicity/
Lubbock city officials announce that a marijuana decriminalization proposal has been successfully forced to a vote by Freedom Act Lubbock: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/texas-activists-collected-enough-signatures-to-put-marijuana-decriminalization-on-another-local-ballot-lubbock-officials-announce/
Thanks for listening! Grab our handy voter guide and consider making a donation to help us continue our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Running for office is a daunting decision - even more so for progressives in a state like Texas, where via gerrymandering and other tactics, Republicans have entrenched their power despite (and because of) their ever-dwindling popularity. Two North Texas Democrats - Francine Ly and Sam Eppler - have both risen to that challenge by running against U.S. House Rep. Beth Van Duyne, one of the worst MAGA types in Congress, and whose District 24 has been shored up for her base after her very narrow initial win. With just weeks remaining until the filing deadline, we hope our conversations with Francine and Sam will inspire YOU to find an office to run for, and personally join the fight for progress in Texas.
Learn more about Progress Texas and consider making a donation to help us continue our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
That monumental deal on school vouchers announced a couple of days ago by Governor Greg Abbott has thus far failed to materialize at the Capitol: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/01/texas-house-dade-phelan-school-vouchers-greg-abbott/
While a timely op-ed by D/FW spiritual leaders gives even more insight on why vouchers are a bad idea for Texas: https://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/other-voices/article281275983.html#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16989219205135&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.star-telegram.com%2Fopinion%2Fopn-columns-blogs%2Fother-voices%2Farticle281275983.html
...However, harsh anti-immigrant legislation is alive and well, and moving towards Abbott's desk: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2023/11/01/texas-senate-panel-oks-bill-creating-penalties-for-illegal-immigration/71409977007/
What's that smell? Donald Trump is back in Texas today: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/2023/11/01/468393/trump-shows-solid-polling-lead-in-texas-ahead-of-his-latest-visit/
John Cornyn makes a dumb joke - and offends Native Americans across the country: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/cornyn-native-american-comment-18459825.php
...Which reminds me - it's Native American Heritage Month! https://progresstexas.org/nahm-celebrations-across-texas-2023
ERCOT plans protocol changes that will make it MORE likely that rolling blackouts will be implemented in emergency power demand situations: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-01/texas-grid-will-make-triggering-power-emergencies-easier
The top official in Loving County, the least-populated county in Texas, faces criminal charges for cattle rustling: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/texas-county-judge-skeet-jones-suspended-cattle-18462750.php
And congrats to the Texas Rangers, who broke a league-leading streak of NOT winning the World Series last night: https://www.wfaa.com/article/sports/mlb/rangers/texas-rangers-world-series-parade-when-where-details/287-f2de72ec-322f-47df-9d6d-83edb3f5dbf4
Thanks for listening! Don't forget to VOTE - find out handy voting guide and consider supporting our work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
An announcement yesterday by Governor Greg Abbott on a voucher breakthrough is news to voucher opponents, whose positions have not changed, at least publicly: https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/abbott-school-voucher-deal-18459828.php
...Meanwhile a ban on COVID-19 vaccine mandates by Texas business owners heads to Abbott's desk: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/31/texas-legislature-covid-vaccine-mandates-ban-bill/
...As does $1.5 billion for border walls and patrolling of the Colony Ridge neighborhood: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/31/texas-senate-senate-bill-6-border-wall-colony-ridge/
U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico demands that Texas remove barriers erected on that state's border: https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/vasquez-demands-texas-governor-remove-razor-wire-along-new-mexico-border/article_d8deb6d4-7804-11ee-a9fc-cbe4522fbbeb.html
Longtime Fort Worth U.S. Rep. Kay Granger is expected to announce her retirement this week: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/31/kay-granger-congress-texas-expected-stepping-down/
Reminders on why a NO vote on Prop 7 is vital for Texas progressives: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/31/texas-infrastructure-constitutional-amendments/
...And after you vote YES on Prop 14, head out to a Texas State Park on Sunday for free: https://www.orangeleader.com/2023/11/01/free-admission-to-texas-state-parks-on-sunday/
And, the Texas Rangers are one win away from their first-ever World Series title: https://krocnews.com/texas-rangers-need-one-more-for-world-series-crown/
Thanks for listening! Grab our handy voting guide and consider making a contribution to help us continue our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
After an eight-year delay, a trial date is set for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, indicted on securities fraud charges - April 15, 2024: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/10/30/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxtons-criminal-trial-set-for-april-15/
A federal judge has ordered federal border agents to stop cutting razor wire - notably, unless that razor wire threatens to hurt migrants: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/10/31/judge-texas-razor-wire-mexico-united-states-border/71387164007/
...While new immigration bills in process at the Capitol would transfer federal border authority to local "peace officers": https://www.texasobserver.org/immigration-local-police-border-hb-4/
That expletive-laden recording of U.S. Representative and Progress Texas-endorsed Houston mayoral candidate Sheila Jackson Lee came up in a debate at Texas Southern University: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/mayoral-debate-jackson-lee-audio-18453370.php
U.S. Representative Chip Roy of Austin (which is crazy) refuses to say whether he'll make any effort to avoid a federal government shutdown: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4283701-chip-roy-spars-fox-business-varney-government-shutdown/#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16987086096865&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fhomenews%2Fhouse%2F4283701-chip-roy-spars-fox-business-varney-government-shutdown%2F
Four of sixteen new federally-funded maternal mortality research centers will be located in Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/30/texas-maternal-health-center-mortality/
Texas Republicans have been even goofier than usual lately on Twitter: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/texas-republicans-tweets-are-batshit-crazy-this-week-17771366
And no surprise here, but Texas looms large nationally when it comes to new residents moving in from other states: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article281207018.html
Don't forget to vote! Early voting ends Friday, and election day is in one week, on Tuesday November 7. Grab our handy voter guide, and consider making a donation to help us continue our important work, at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
As a new week begins, the line against vouchers at the special session is holding...for now: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/san-angelo-republican-school-voucher-program-doa-texas-house-without-major-increase-public-school-funding/287-75354955-4380-41dc-af8e-3c77a6906c4b
...While religious schools eye the prospect of expanding into rural areas should vouchers pass: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/30/private-school-expansion-texas-vouchers/
...Catholic schools for example, where enrollment has been sliding for decades: https://www.expressnews.com/news/education/article/texas-vouchers-catholic-schools-18452765.php
U.S. Representative Colin Allred leads a Senate race poll - but ranks far behind respondents with no opinion or knowledge of the race: https://www.kxan.com/news/your-local-election-hq/allred-leads-crowded-field-in-new-texas-democratic-primary-poll/
El Paso Matters op-ed calls immigration bills speeding through the special session "bad legislation": https://elpasomatters.org/2023/10/28/opinion-texas-immigration-bills-wasteful-unconstitutional-dangerous/
Guns are still the leading cause of death among young Texans - and the numbers are getting worse: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/30/gun-fatalities-texas-youths/
And while some progressive organizations have gotten behind Prop 1, the farming and agricultural rights amendment, Progress Texas still recommends a NO vote, due to the potential of abuse by large corporate agribusiness: https://www.kxan.com/news/protections-for-texas-farmers-on-the-november-ballot/
Thanks for listening! Grab our handy voting guide and consider making a donation to help us continue our work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
New immigration bills, which will pave the way for regular harassment of Texas Latinos, continue towards the Governor's desk: https://www.axios.com/2023/10/26/texas-migrants-border-arrest-bill
...While Houston Representative Armando Walle becomes a touchstone of his community's frustration: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/texas-latino-democrat-walle-slams-republicans-immigration-bill-detain-rcna122335
A judge rules that the TEA cannot release school and district ratings, which had been challenged due to changes in rubric: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/education/2023/10/26/judge-halts-texas-education-agency-from-releasing-a-f-school-ratings/71338396007/
The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether a proven dangerous person retains his right to possess a gun under the 2nd Amendment: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2023/10/27/supreme-court-must-correct-course-on-gun-rights-with-texas-case/
Ken Paxton's crusade against renewable energy is now disrupting the Texas municipal bond market: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-27/wells-fargo-rbc-losing-texas-deals-on-ken-paxton-probe-into-energy-policies
Opaque explanation of routine voter roll discrepancies in Harris County threatens to fuel conspiracies about election fraud in 2024: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/26/harris-county-election-2022-audit-voter-conspiracy/
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo details her struggle with depression, and with getting help for it: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/health-science/medicine-wellness/2023/10/26/467700/ive-been-dealing-with-it-for-about-8-years-harris-county-judge-lina-hidalgo-discusses-her-battle-with-depression-treatment/
Robot car company Cruise has suspended operations in Texas as it seeks to "rebuild public trust": https://cbsaustin.com/renderer/cbsaustin/amp/news/local/cruise-halts-all-driverless-operations-including-texas-to-rebuild-public-trust-after-license-suspension
The Texas Rangers - who have never won the Major League Baseball championship - start the 2023 World Series in Arlington tonight vs. the Arizona Diamondbacks: https://www.npr.org/2023/10/27/1208946022/7-game-world-series-matchup-starts-in-texas-rangers-meet-arizona-diamondbacks
Thanks for listening! Grab our handy voter guide, and consider making a contribution to help Progress Texas continue our important work, at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Houston Rep. Armando Walle had strong words for House Republicans after debate over harsh new immigration laws was cut short: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/25/texas-legislature-house-immigration-bills/
...While GOP efforts for vouchers appear to have made little progress: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/25/texas-vouchers-house-abbott-legislature/
New U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has ties to Texas based on efforts on behalf of "religious liberty": https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/national-politics/new-speaker-of-the-house-once-practiced-law-in-collin-county/287-ca3988e1-2e93-434c-8d74-8a8f52089917
...While Texas MAGA types are big Johnson fans, but House Dems highlight major problems: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/texas-reactions-speaker-johnson-18447628.php
A Waco JP who wants to continue discriminating against LGBTQ+ Texans gets her day before the Texas Supreme Court: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/can-a-texas-judge-refuse-to-marry-gay-couples-texas-supreme-court-to-rule/
Inter-party battles over anti-Semitisim within the Texas GOP draw national attention: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4275361-texas-republicans-anti-semitism-allegations-feed-civil-war/
...While Steven Monacelli exposes a particularly gross North Texas Nazi group: https://www.texasobserver.org/unmasking-texas-neo-nazis/
...And the Texas Tribune covers Texans For Strong Borders, whose leader is a well-established hate-mongerer: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/25/chris-russo-texans-for-strong-borders-immigration-nick-fuentes/
Thanks for listening! Grab our guide to the ongoing constitutional amendments election and consider supporting our work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Both Republican U.S. Reps Pete Sessions and Roger Williams have seen their aspirations to become Speaker of the House dashed: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/24/pete-sessions-us-speaker-race-texas/
Ken Paxton sues the Biden administration, this time for removing deadly razor wire from the border: https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/24/politics/texas-paxton-biden-administration-border-razor-wire-lawsuit/index.html
Houston U.S. Representative and mayoral candidate Sheila Jackson Lee apologizes for a profanity-laden recording in which she berates her staff: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/24/sheila-jackson-lee-houston-mayor-audio-leak-staffer/
5,000 workers at Arlington's GM assembly plant join the national UAW strike: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/24/arlington-texas-gm-auto-workers-strike/
Rice University finds that not only is it hard to recruit faculty into Texas, a large number of existing Texas faculty are planning to leave the state: https://www.ricethresher.org/article/2023/10/texas-politics-pose-challenge-to-hiring-faculty-desroches-says
...While Rice stands out from other Texas universities by doubling down on DEI efforts: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/25/texas-dei-ban-rice-university/
A story that five Texas Longhorns football players lost scholarships for kneeling during the National Anthem, popular among right-wing online trolls, appears to be false: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/texas-anthem-kneeling-scholarships/
Essential reading on how white supremacist conspiracy theories are now intersecting with Texas Republican lawmaking: https://www.justsecurity.org/89704/white-supremacist-conspiracy-theory-is-fueling-extreme-border-policy-in-texas/
Many Texas retired teachers are spending their entire pensions on rent alone - vote YES on Prop 9: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/vote/texas-proposition-9-retired-teachers-pension/269-1b5dc2cc-24bc-4d5a-a250-5cf5ecb30ff2
A Texas toddler has become the youngest American to visit all 63 national parks - vote YES on Prop 14: https://www.nbcnews.com/now/video/texas-toddler-becomes-youngest-person-to-visit-all-63-national-parks-196336709522
And we encourage positive thoughts and energy for Acapulco, Mexico, who overnight bore the brunt of a Category 5 hurricane: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/10/25/world/hurricane-otis-acapulco
Thanks for listening! Please grab our handy voter guide, and consider helping us continue our important work, at https://progresstexas.org/.
Progress Texas is proud to endorse former Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins in his run for Houston City Controller - a somewhat low-profile but pivotal position in the government of our state's biggest and most diverse city. His performance during the pandemic election of 2020 was outstanding - so much so, that Republicans have been doing all they can to undermine the voters of Houston ever since. We know he'll bring that same dedication and expertise to the job of Controller. Join us for a great talk with Chris Hollins - one of our state's most dynamic young progressive leaders!
Learn more about Chris and support his campaign at https://chrishollins.com/.
And, grab our popular and handy voter guide for the election happening NOW, and consider supporting our work as well, at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The state's lawsuit will go to trial in April, following a ruling by anti-abortion activist judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo: https://news.yahoo.com/planned-parenthood-must-face-trial-005536520.html
...While Lubbock County becomes the fourth, and largest so far, Texas county to establish a so-called "abortion travel ban": https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/23/abortion-travel-ban-lubbock-county/
$1.5 billion of YOUR taxpayer money for the building of more border wall heads to the House floor this week: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/house-panel-weighs-15-billion-investment-in-border-wall-after-request-from-abbott
...While a USA Today writer recommends a wall all the way around Texas: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2023/10/24/abbott-texas-border-wall-construction-razor-wire/71292239007/
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick's purchase of $3 million in Israeli bonds, seeking to defuse controversy over a pre-impeachment donation by Defend Texas Liberty, is a sidestep at best: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/10/23/texas-lt-gov-patrick-seeks-to-deflate-nick-fuentes-flap-by-buying-3m-of-israel-bonds/
...While the Texas GOP's associations with the hard-right lunatic fringe run far deeper than just Nick Fuentes: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/23/defend-texas-liberty-nick-fuentes-jonathan-stickland/
Harris Democrats square off with the Harris County DA - herself a Democrat: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/harris-county-admonish-kim-ogg-18442301.php
Thanks for listening - and don't forget to VOTE! Grab our voting guide, and consider making a donation to help us keep on keeping on, at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Early voting on 14 constitutional amendment propositions and a variety of local matters begins today! Learn all about voting in Texas at https://govotetexas.org/, and grab our handy guide to those 14 amendments at https://progresstexas.org/2023-texas-statewide-ballot-guide.
The special session nears its third week - the lower amount of taxpayer money the House version of school vouchers would give Texas families would put private school even further out of reach for lower-income families: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/texas-legislative-special-session-for-school-vouchers-drags-on-17727793
...While Democrats and most Rural Republicans, for now, appear unswayed: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/texas-school-voucher-bill-debate-opposition-ron-reynolds/287-80ddb75e-fa9d-42c4-b3c8-421da2d5ca84
U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions of Waco, who has thrown his name into the hat for Speaker, is a relatively quiet but virulent and vicious MAGA crusader: https://www.texasdemocrats.org/media/pete-sessions-announced-run-for-speaker
A Waco Justice Of The Peace, on a seven-year-long fight to be able to deny LGBTQ+ couples her services as a wedding officiant, gets her day before the Texas Supreme Court this week: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/10/22/texas-judge-gay-marriage-lawsuit-christian-dianne-hensley-supreme-court-interview/
Texas State Parks is honored by the Texas Travel Alliance as its 2023 Heritage Award winner: https://www.myhighplains.com/news/texas/texas-state-parks-named-texas-travel-alliance-heritage-award-winner/
The LBJ Foundation has begun an effort to have Austin-Bergstrom International Airport re-named for President Lyndon Baines Johnson: https://www.kut.org/2023-10-20/austin-airport-name-change-campaign-lbj-abia
And the biggest baseball game in years in Texas goes down tonight, as the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers face off in Game 7 of the ALCS: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/lone-star-game-7-showdown-rangers-astros-battle-for-al-pennant-in-houston/
Who's ready to VOTE? We sure are - and with early voting starting Monday, with tons on the line - key funding for Texas' retired teachers and state parks, a big oil money grab to block, major races in Houston and elsewhere across Texas - we figured it was a great time to host a guest episode of Pod Bless Texas, hosted by our pal and fresh-faced groom Kendall Scuddar, and featuring our own Executive Director Kathleen Thompson. K & K talk all about the 14 amendments and (generally) agree on which way Texas progressives should vote in each one - of course, all of this is up to YOU - the main thing is to show up!
Find our voting guide at https://progresstexas.org/2023-texas-statewide-ballot-guide.
Learn all about voting in Texas at https://govotetexas.org/.
Find Pod Bless Texas at https://www.podblesstexas.com/.
Enjoy the weekend and see you at the polls!
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Democrats in the Texas House present a solid school funding package, which of course is near-guaranteed to be ignored by the GOP majority: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2023/10/19/texas-legislature-house-democrats-unveil-school-funding-bill-hb117/71240474007/
...While Republican House members present another iteration of the same old idea, vouchers: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/19/texas-house-voucher-school-choice-bill/
Immigration advocates raise concerns that legislation increasing criminality for assisting undocumented migrants is dangerously vague: https://abc13.com/texas-politics-sb4-undocumented-immigrants/13942147/
...While Republicans themselves wonder why the Colony Ridge development is a point of conversation: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/19/colony-ridge-texas-legislature/
Two of Ken Paxton's staffers have left their jobs amidst concerns of impropriety: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/19/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-judd-stone-chris-hilton/
Anti-semitic incidents and rhetoric are rising in Texas over the Israel/Hamas conflict: https://www.fox44news.com/news/local-news/mclennan-county/anti-defamation-league-reports-instances-of-anti-semitism-across-central-texas/
A second state audit of elections in Houston reveals only minor problems: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/nation-world/story/2023-10-19/texas-releases-another-audit-of-elections-in-harris-county-where-gop-still-challenging-losses
Dallas-based attorney Sidney Powell pleads guilty to charges of election interference in Georgia - and is likely to flip on Donald Trump: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/sidney-powell-pleads-guilty-georgia-election-interference-case-rcna121210
And conspiracy monger Alex Jones will not, after all, be able to avoid over $1 billion in defamation damages via his personal bankruptcy: https://www.reuters.com/legal/alex-jones-cant-avoid-sandy-hook-verdicts-bankruptcy-judge-2023-10-19/
Thanks for listening! Check out our popular and handy voting guide for the November election (early voting starts Monday!) and consider contributing to our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Next month's election - early voting actually starts on Monday, October 23 - is what we like to call a "low-turnout/high impact" election. Meaning, since few Texans (unfortunately) are likely to show up, YOUR vote carries a LOT more weight than it would in a higher-turnout situation. Ironically, these quieter elections are frequently the most significant opportunities Texans have to nudge our state in the right direction, and that's certainly the case with the 14 constitutional amendment propositions you'll be faced with at the ballot box. Many are actually a chance to get something GOOD done for Texas for a change - others are deceptively-worded money grabs for billionaires - making a seemingly unimportant election a VERY important one for Texas progressives to show up for.
In this episode, we're proud to welcome Becky Bullard, Texas political podcasting pioneer and current Communications Manager for the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club to talk about Prop 7 - the creation of a "Texas Energy Fund" - which might sound like a good idea, but is actually a giant handout to fossil fuel billionaires - vote NO. We also welcome Texas Retired Teachers Association Executive Director Tim Lee and retired veteran educator Cathy Patrick to talk about Prop 9, which would approve the first cost of living increase for our state's retired teachers in over two decades - vote YES. And finally, our friend Luke Metzger, Executive Director of Environment Texas, to talk Prop 14 - the creation of a Centennial Parks Conservation Fund earmarked for the creation and maintenance of state parks - vote YES.
Find (and support!) our handy and popular voter guide at https://progresstexas.org/2023-texas-statewide-ballot-guide.
More on the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club: https://www.sierraclub.org/texas
More on the Texas Retired Teachers Association: https://trta.org/
More on Environment Texas: https://environmentamerica.org/texas/
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A coalition of progressive groups gathered at the Capitol for a news conference stating opposition to school vouchers yesterday: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2023/10/18/our-taxes-shouldnt-be-paying-for-discrimination-activists-speak-to-equity-support-concerns-in-school/71232595007/
Jim Jordan is even further short of the votes he needs to become Speaker of the House - trailing Democrat Hakeem Jeffries - with three Texas Republicans still holding out: https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/17/politics/republicans-who-voted-against-jim-jordan/index.html
A plane took off from Harlingen yesterday carrying the first U.S. deportees to Venezuela in several years: https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-migrants-deportation-texas-biden-immigration-1115aa224f1fa79fb88bd991a8ed705a
A member of Ken Paxton's impeachment defense team will run against a House Republican who voted to impeach the AG: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/paxton-impeachment-defense-lawyer-to-launch-bid-for-texas-house/
Texas will recieve multiple millions of the historic $3.5 billion Biden administration spend on energy infrastructure improvements: https://www.aol.com/biden-announces-3-5b-projects-200449856.html#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16977101832878&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aol.com%2Fbiden-announces-3-5b-projects-200449856.html
The City of San Marcos will pay a group of four passengers on a Biden campaign bus - including former Senator Wendy Davis - who city police failed to help as they were accosted by Trump supporters in 2020: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/17/trump-train-san-marcos-lawsuit-settlement/
Also in San Marcos: a pre-school teacher's aide has been fired and is in legal trouble after a 4-year old student found a gun in their backpack: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article280681745.html
The Texas GOP is fracturing over fears that its leadership is tolerant of antisemitic elements: https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/texas-gop-antisemitism-18431798.php
The New York Times podcast "The Daily" covers regrets of Eagle Pass residents two years after embracing Operation Lone Star: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/19/podcasts/the-daily/texas-immigration.html
Thanks for listening! Check out our voter guide for the November election, and consider making a donation to support our continued work, at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Of the 20 Republican holdouts stopping Jim Jordan from becoming Speaker yesterday, only 3 were from Texas: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/how-did-texas-congressional-delegation-vote-for-speaker-of-the-house/
Jonathan Stickland, following a day-long hang with notorious Nazi Nick Fuentes, appears to be out as president of the hard-right Defend Texas Liberty PAC: https://www.ksat.com/news/texas/2023/10/18/defend-texas-liberty-pac-names-new-president-after-leader-met-with-white-supremacist-nick-fuentes/
Texas Republican lawmakers want to give Governor Abbott another $1.5 billion of your tax money for border wall construction: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/texas-border-wall-spending-18422945.php
...While New Mexico politicos square off over razor wire Abbott has had erected on their border with Texas: https://www.krqe.com/news/politics-government/new-mexico-republicans-democrats-at-odds-over-texass-efforts-to-razor-wire-tx-nm-border/
Prop 9 - a long-overdue cost of living increase for Texas retired teachers - is already endorsed by the Lege, but now requires voter approval - we recommend a hearty YES vote: https://kfdm.com/renderer/kfdm/amp/news/local/crisis-in-the-classroom-texas-retired-teachers-suffering-financially-counting-on-voters-to-pump-their-pensions
Austin U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett is sounding the alarm over multiple near-misses lately at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/local/2023/10/16/us-rep-lloyd-doggett-faa-action-austin-bergstrom-international-airport-near-miss-collision/71207579007/?utm_source=americanstatesman-dailybriefing-strada&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailybriefing-headline-stack&utm_term=hero&utm_content=naas-austin-nletter65
ERCOT officials meet to discuss this record-breaking summer, and forecast its performance this winter: https://abc13.com/ercot-texas-power-gird-winter-grid-conditions-freeze/13930195/#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16975916029942&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fabc13.com%2Fercot-texas-power-gird-winter-grid-conditions-freeze%2F13930195%2F
...While the Texas petroleum business booms like never before: https://kqkinews.com/report-texas-oil-and-natural-gas-production-reaches-new-record-in-september/
...And Texas Railroad Commission talk of reigning in gas flaring, so far, is just talk: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/18102023/texas-railroad-commission-approval-flaring/
Thanks for listening! Have a look at our popular voter guide for the November election, and considering making a donation to help us continue our important work, at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Texas Senate ignored protests from business groups and passed a ban on private employers requiring COVID-19 vaccines: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/texas-considers-banning-covid-19-vaccine-mandates/
The Sheriff of Bexar County believes Florida Governor Ron Desantis broke the law with his flying of migrants from San Antonio to Martha's Vinyard last year: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/10/texas-sheriff-hasnt-forgotten-about-ron-desantis-migrant-stunt
The Biden Administration settles with the ACLU to end the Trump-era policy of separating migrant children from their families: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/16/biden-lawsuit-family-separation-border-settlement/
New documentary "Texas USA" examines entrenched Republican power in Texas and the Democratic candidates fighting back: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/politics-news/texas-usa-director-andrew-morgan-interview-1235619182/
And a new novel, "Mr. Texas", follows a freshman Texas lawmaker learning the ropes in Austin: https://www.npr.org/2023/10/16/1206123344/mr-texas-author-lawrence-wright-takes-on-the-colorful-world-of-lone-star-politic
Texas is on track to be the most populous state in the nation by the end of the century: https://abc13.com/texas-most-populous-state-by-2100-population-clmate-change-migration-patterns/13919411/
Thanks for listening! Check out our voting guide and consider supporting our important work with a donation at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following at Progress Texas:
Senate-approved legislation allowing private school vouchers heads to the House today: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/politics/lone-star-politics/passing-the-texas-senate-education-savings-accounts-have-tougher-road-in-house/3360879/
...Governor Abbott is confident that vouchers are "on the one-yard line": https://www.kxan.com/state-of-texas/state-of-texas-public-funds-for-private-schools-plan-on-the-one-yard-line/
A big win for opponents of Galveston County's 2021 voting maps, drawn to disenfranchise voters of color: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/10/a-trump-appointed-federal-judge-just-ruled-a-texas-county-violated-the-voting-rights-act/
Rallies supporting Israel and Palestine were held at the Texas State Capitol yesterday with only minimal conflict: https://www.kxan.com/news/hundreds-attend-israel-palestine-rallies-at-texas-capitol/
A handful of Texas U.S. Representatives have rallied behind Ohio's Jim Jordan in his bid to be Speaker of the House, but he's nowhere near there: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/13/texas-congress-speaker-vote-jim-jordan/
...Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee condemns GOP incompetence: https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/watch/texas-congresswoman-calls-out-dramatic-cost-of-house-gop-leadership-vacuum-195370053726
Following a shooting on Saturday, the Texas State Fair's policy covering the carrying of guns on its grounds is contradictory: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2023/10/15/does-the-state-fair-of-texas-allow-guns-its-policy-appears-to-be-contradictory/
...They've beefed up security for the last week of the Fair: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/state-fair-of-texas-reopens-with-added-safety-precautions-after-3-shot/
Watch for the term "special interest alien", which is being used interchangeably with "suspected terrorist" by right-wing media: https://www.politifact.com/article/2023/sep/21/special-interest-alien-designation-is-based-largel/
Austin and Dallas both make the top 5 in a new study of America's most overworked cities: https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/texas-cities-rank-in-the-top-5-most-overworked-cities-in-us-study-says/
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
As expected, school vouchers have passed the Texas Senate: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/senate-school-vouchers-18421617.php
Governor Abbott says he'll only add funding for public schools and raises for teachers to the agenda if the House also passes vouchers: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/12/greg-abbott-school-vouchers-teacher-raises/
The Senate also passed two immigration-related bills yesterday: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/12/special-session-border-immigration-bills/
...While Operation Lone Star is now razor-wiring the NEW Mexican border: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/texas/article-12624001/Texas-starts-border-wall-razor-New-Mexico-Governor-Greg-Abbott-illegal-immigrants-out.html
Wondering which Texas Republicans are still accepting Defend Texas Liberty money, even after their partnership with Nick Fuentes was revealed? Here's a list: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/12/defend-texas-liberty-pac-nick-fuentes-jonathan-stickland/
Austin U.S. Rep. Greg Casar gets into a verbal scrape with a fellow Democrat over his comments about Muslims during a Hamas/Israel discussion: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/2023/10/12/israel-hamas-war-us-rep-greg-casar-austin-tx-democrat-josh-gottheimer-confronts-over-comments/71159256007/
Barbers Hill ISD escalates its fight with a student over his cultural hairstyle by sending him to a disciplinary alternative school: https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/11/us/darryl-george-alternative-school-reaj/index.html
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Vouchers, should they pass, threaten to bankrupt the state - and are also fundamentally unfair to Texas taxpayers without children: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/vouchers-financial-cost-unfair-texas-18415344.php
GOP Rep. Tony Tinderholt has filed a resolution apologizing to Ken Paxton for the impeachment effort: https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2023-10-11/something-nice-for-paxton-new-resolution-would-apologize-for-impeachment-trial/
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and several other Republicans will keep their now-Nazi-tainted contributions from Defend Texas Liberty: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/11/jared-patterson-nick-fuentes-defend-texas-liberty-jonathan-stickland/
Torchy's responds to an incel invasion of one of its Fort Worth stores, saying "Fuck Hate": https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/trending/article/torchys-tacos-responds-nazi-hate-group-18419286.php
Texas U.S. Representatives Chip Roy and Michael Cloud continue threatening gridlock as the House GOP struggles to name a Speaker: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/11/chip-roy-michael-cloud-steve-scalise-house-speaker/
A harrowing abortion rights story reminds us that the reproductive rights of Texans remain at historic lows: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/11/texas-abortion-law-texas-abortion-ban-nonviable-pregnancies/
Starr County residents are as confused as you are about Biden's Border Wall: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/11/us/border-wall-biden-texas-starr-county.html
ERCOT's CEO pegs our odds of an energy emergency this winter at about one in five: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-11/texas-power-grid-boss-sees-tight-winter-supply-as-demand-grows
Colin Allred announces just shy of $5 million in third-quarter donations: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4250481-texas-democrat-allred-raises-4-7-million-in-third-quarter-to-challenge-cruz/
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Governor Abbott's school voucher bill passed easily on party lines by the Senate Education Committee, now goes to the full body: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2023/10/10/texas-senates-education-savings-account-proposal-kicks-off-school-choice-debate/
...Over the objections of advocates for students with disabilities: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/10/texas-school-vouchers-disabilities-special-session/
...All eyes on House Republicans representing rural districts, who hold the key to beating back vouchers: https://www.kut.org/politics/2023-10-10/in-texas-rural-republicans-hold-the-line-against-school-vouchers
...Meanwhile, a new ban on COVID vaccine requirements by private employers - including healthcare providers - also breezes through committee: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/texas-senate-committee-passes-expanded-ban-on-covid-19-vaccine-mandates/
Elon Musk, who owns extensive industrial property in Texas, is under fire by the EU over Hamas misinformation spreading on X/Twitter: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/eu-warns-elon-musk-potential-investigation-hamas-content-rcna119783#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16970193763111&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcnews.com%2Ftech%2Fsocial-media%2Feu-warns-elon-musk-potential-investigation-hamas-content-rcna119783
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador files a complaint with federal officials over Texas DPS border safety inspections, which are backing up millions of dollars of cargo: https://www.freightwaves.com/news/mexican-president-blames-texas-run-border-inspections-for-delays
Texas has executed a death row inmate whose execution delay was just upheld by a court on Monday, due to an appeal by the Texas Attorney General's office: https://apnews.com/article/texas-execution-murphy-supreme-court-6d9cd44d7c7a6817d53e1bcb74e8534f
And Texas music phenom Kacey Musgraves weighs in in favor of Prop 14, which will establish funds for new state parks - video at the link: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/article/kacey-musgraves-constitutional-amendment-18418182.php
Thanks for listening! Find our handy voter guide for next month's election, and consider making a donation to help Progress Texas continue our important work, at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texas Republicans are at each other's throats as the special session on school vouchers opens: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/09/special-session-school-vouchers-dan-patrick-dade-phelan/
Headline of the month: "Why Texas Moms Could Sink School Choice": https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/yall-itics/texas-moms-could-sink-school-choice/287-acab7fd5-3f4f-4d5e-9294-9e3284ba0e38
The effects of the new Israel/Hamas clash will be felt acutely in the Lone Star State: https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/texans-are-already-feeling-the-impacts-of-the-attacks-in-israel/
...While Governor Abbott moves to increase security at Texas synagogues and Jewish schools: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/texas-gov-abbott-spends-4-million-dollars-to-secure-jewish-schools-synagogues-in-texas-blocks-state-purchase-of-goods-from-gaza-strip/3356063/
Ken Paxton is set to file criminal complaints over doxing by Texas House impeachment managers: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/10/09/texas-ag-paxton-to-file-anti-doxing-complaints-against-house-impeachment-managers/
TODAY - Tuesday October 10 - is the last day to confirm your registration for next month's election: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2023/10/04/you-can-shape-how-texas-amends-its-constitution/
And a Texas A&M physics professor has become an internet sensation with her insane experiment shows: https://www.khou.com/article/news/education/texas-am-physics-performance/285-1634808e-3e40-4216-b360-5cd1ab7556e7
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A third special session called this year by Governor Greg Abbott is set to kick off this morning at the Texas State Capitol: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/school-vouchers-border-security-and-covid-mandate-bans-heres-what-to-expect-in-texas-3rd-special-session/
...Which we covered extensively in this weekend's special edition of the Progress Texas Happy Hour: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-130-why-school-vouchers-are-bad-for-texas/id1552998795?i=1000630493979
...Already breaking ranks, at least one Democratic lawmaker: Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins of San Antonio: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/texas-democrat-compromise-school-choice-vouchers/287-2c051461-4bc3-47ee-8cd0-c479a7f2b084
...And another House Democrat, Gene Wu, has a theory on why public school funding was left off the agenda: https://x.com/GeneforTexas/status/1710296945225306451?t=wYU0An7_knEQmhND-7BClg&s=03
...As protests begin over the weekend at the Capitol grounds and Governor's Mansion: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/politics/texas-legislature/austin-state-capitol-anti-voucher-rally/269-c7589d65-a454-4abd-994f-9506832d1393
...And Republicans remain smugly confident that vouchers will pass: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/texas-school-choice-bill-legislation-chair-house-public-education-committee-likes-odds-passing/287-d0a89ea3-a3ae-4b59-bb01-de7966ffaaa9
Also on the special session agenda: immigration, with the Colony Ridge neighborhood near Houston singled out by name: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/08/us/texas-migrants-housing-colony-ridge.html
...While progressives puzzle over the Biden Administration's decision to authorize 20 more miles of border wall through an environmentally sensitive zone: https://www.npr.org/2023/10/08/1204545880/the-biden-administration-is-building-a-controversial-part-of-the-border-wall-in-
Texas law enforcement steps up monitoring of worship sites and military installations in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/law-enforcement-increase-patrols-in-metroplex-after-attack-on-israel/
...While U.S. Rep Michael McCaul worries that his own party's fragmented leadership may encourage American foreign adversaries: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/08/congress-israel-hamas-mike-mccaul-00120514
Prominent Texas Republican operatives Jonathan Stickland and Matt Rinaldi are caught hosting notorious anti-Semite and generally gross person Nick Fuentes at a Fort Worth office building (warning that this read is particularly disgusting): https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/08/nick-fuentes-kyle-rittenhouse-jonathan-stickland/
A high-ranking Exxon executive is busted for sexual assault at a Magnolia hotel: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/exxon-mobils-top-shale-exec-arrested-on-sexual-assault-charge-in-texas-df29c965
And there IS a little good news this morning, for South Texas anyway: looks like it's gonna rain: https://www.expressnews.com/san-antonio-weather/forecast/article/tropical-storm-lidia-south-texas-18412692.php
Thanks for listening! Find out all you need to know about voting in the constitutional amendment proposition election next month at https://govotetexas.org/ , and consider helping Progress Texas continue our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Governor Greg Abbott has followed through with his promise to call the Texas Legislature back for a third time - at the very least - in his effort to push through his deeply unpopular plan to redirect millions of taxpayer dollars to private schools - many of them with church ties - at the expense of the public schools those dollars were collected to support. School vouchers have been defeated over, and over, and over for decades in Texas - WHY is the Governor so dead set on something almost nobody, save the minority of well-off Texans already opting for private education, wants at all? We try to answer that question, and measure the potential for resistance, with a special talk featuring Texas Senator Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, Patty Quinzi of the Texas chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, and Dr. Chloe Latham Sikes of IDRA - the Intercultural Development Research Association. The session starts Monday October 9 - the time to express your opposition to school vouchers to your elected representatives in Austin is NOW.
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
President Joe Biden says he had "no choice" but to authorize 20 miles of new border wall through a sensitive environmental zone in South Texas: https://apnews.com/article/biden-us-mexico-border-wall-immigration-texas-f99fd10257292a898618236df3613979
Biden's lack of faith in the efficacy of border walls clashes with a statement by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who says they're needed: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/05/biden-border-wall-texas-starr-county/
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro will file a resolution today condemning right-wing talk of military intervention south of the Mexican border: https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/10/05/texas-congressman-wants-house-renounce-gop-contenders-threats-of-military-strikes-mexico.html
Governor Abbott releases his agenda for the third special legislative session, set to begin Monday - public school funding is a glaring omission: https://t.co/0ciFXa93Mm
And the third annual Trans Pride Fest happens Saturday in Denton: https://www.click2houston.com/news/texas/2023/10/06/amid-anti-lgbtq-legislation-a-north-texas-college-town-hosts-its-third-annual-trans-pride-event/
Our super-popular progressive voting guide is up! Study up: https://progresstexas.org/2023-texas-statewide-ballot-guide
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Both sides of the political divide now recognize that the U.S. is experiencing an immigration crisis: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/influx-migrants-border-gains-renewed-attention-crisis-rhetoric-spreads-rcna118595#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16964949969634&csi=1&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcnews.com%2Fpolitics%2Fpolitics-news%2Finflux-migrants-border-gains-renewed-attention-crisis-rhetoric-spreads-rcna118595
...While the Biden Administration gives an emphatic green light to Trump-reminiscent border wall construction: https://apnews.com/article/border-wall-biden-immigration-texas-rio-grande-147d7ab497e6991e9ea929242f21ceb2
...A Liberty County housing development comes under Republican fire for selling homes to undocumented citizens (which is legal): https://news.yahoo.com/texas-neighborhood-became-target-over-222036668.html
...And El Paso sees an uptick of high-speed chases related to illegal immigration, complete with gunfire: https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/crime/2023/10/04/texas-dps-el-paso-border-smuggler-pursuit-chases-intensify/71045860007/
The Texas GOP delegation in the U.S. House is being courted by multiple candidates to replace Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/mccarthy-speaker-race-18406295.php
...While talk of Donald Trump taking the job is exciting his cult following, but remains a remote possibility: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/04/texas-republicans-scalise-jordan-hern-speaker/
...And Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan faces a similar challenge to his position at the outset of the third special session: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/after-mccarthy-texas-speaker-phelan-to-face-challenge-for-gavel/
Texas House Rep. James Talarico sounds the alarm on West Texas oil tycoons spending huge money to exert religious influence on Texas government: https://t.co/pUCZqtsXak
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave a long and brainy talk at the University of Texas at Austin this week: https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-during-a-conversation-at-the-university-of-texas-at-austin-moderated-by-former-u-s-ambassador-to-nato-kay-bailey-hutchison/
And Texas may be home to the nation's biggest concentration of cheaters - but at least they're honest about it: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-cheaters/285-000833ca-28cc-4298-8f3a-8d7cba19e653#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16964920665746&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.khou.com%2Farticle%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Ftexas%2Ftexas-cheaters%2F285-000833ca-28cc-4298-8f3a-8d7cba19e653
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
After resisting his nomination, all Texas U.S. Reps stuck with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to the end: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/03/texas-republicans-kevin-mccarthy-speaker-vote/
...And now, Fort Bend Rep. Troy Nehls wants Donald Trump to be the new Speaker: https://www.khou.com/article/news/politics/troy-nehls-nominates-donald-trump-speaker-of-the-house/285-ac4a2f55-bbe0-4df0-90f5-ae0d8f7dc843
House impeachment managers release more dirt on Attorney General Ken Paxton, which they say they didn't have time to use during the impeachment trial: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/special-reports/paxton-impeachment-trial/new-evidence-ken-paxton-impeachment-trial-texas/269-9189a8fe-e8f9-4c6a-a55e-311f705821ad
A new outline of efforts by petroleum power players and their Republican protectors to undermine renewable energy and resist federal regulation is a frustrating read: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/texas-air-pollution-gop-lawuits-climate-change-18401627.php
...While ERCOT calls for power plants shut down due to pollution to be revived in case they're needed for winter energy shortages: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/texas-power-grid-seeks-increase-operating-reserves-winter-preparation-2023-10-02/
...One of those is a coal-fired plant near San Antonio that's been mothballed for five years: https://www.expressnews.com/business/article/ercot-calls-closed-power-plants-texas-grid-winter-18403794.php
The encroachment of conservative politics and religion into North Texas public school districts is the subject of a new podcast series from NBC News: https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/politics-and-religion-s-growing-influence-in-three-texas-school-districts-194360901777
Another Democrat has declared a run for the soon-to-be-vacated Texas House seat representing El Paso: https://kfoxtv.com/renderer/kfoxtv/amp/news/local/el-paso-city-rep-alexsandra-annello-announces-bid-for-texas-state-representative
And the long process of opening a sample from an asteroid is taking even longer than expected at Johnson Space Center: https://gizmodo.com/osiris-rex-asteroid-sample-return-excess-materials-1850894913
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of San Antonio and South Texas was thankfully unharmed after carjackers stole his car at gunpoint in D.C. last night: https://apnews.com/article/congress-henry-cuellar-carjacking-capitol-texas-87eddb457f20ec614fbb473115480987
State Senator Juan Hinojosa writes an op-ed on why school vouchers would be bad for Texas: https://riograndeguardian.com/hinojosa-say-no-to-school-vouchers-in-texas/
House Speaker Dade Phelan is under increasing pressure to step down by prominent figures to his right: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2023/10/02/texas-house-speaker-dade-phelan-faces-mounting-pressure-following-ken-paxton-impeachment/?outputType=amp
Remarks by Governor Greg Abbott during a speech in New York City conjure images of "abortion enforcement" at Texas' state lines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZzg_luniz4 (index to 35:57)
House Rep. Frederick Frazier of McKinney, under two felony indictments for over a year, may see yet another extension of his trial date due to the upcoming special session: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/02/frederick-frazier-texas-criminal-trial/
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a new trial for death row inmate Robert Roberson, convicted of killing his young daughter on the basis of debunked medical science and his autism: https://www.tpr.org/criminal-justice/2023-10-02/supreme-court-declines-to-stop-texas-from-executing-man-over-junk-science-conviction
...SCOTUS will also soon review Texas and Florida laws that seek to force social media platforms to support objectionable and false conservative content: https://www.wokv.com/news/local/florida-texas-social-media-censorship-laws-headed-us-supreme-court/4CJA7CKOCVETRJOVJRHJRCMNSM/
Rice University's President laments the reluctance of faculty recruits to move to Texas due to our oppressive political environment: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-02/texas-politics-are-making-it-harder-to-hire-professors-at-rice#xj4y7vzkg
Texas transplant Elon Musk has been sued for slandering a man on Twitter/X, by the same lawyer who successfully sued Alex Jones in the Sandy Hook case: https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2023-10-02/elon-musk-sued-for-slander-by-attorney-who-successfully-sued-alex-jones/
Progress Texas ED Kathleen Thompson will take part in a press conference today in Dallas supporting Prop. 14, which if passed would grant more funding to Texas state parks: https://ballotpedia.org/Texas_Proposition_14,_Creation_of_the_Centennial_Parks_Conservation_Fund_Amendment_(2023)
And finally - FINALLY - hard science proves that Whataburger is quantifiably superior to In-N-Out Burger: https://www.mysanantonio.com/food/article/whataburger-innout-debate-18397650.php
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Four U.S. House Reps from Texas fought to the bitter end in their mission to shut down the government: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/29/texas-republicans-government-shutdown-vote/
...While Rep. Greg Casar of Austin sheds light on what the GOP in D.C. is really after: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2023/09/28/biden-impeachment-inquiry-republicans-refuse-acknowledge-trump-accountability-cases/70995287007/
Governor Abbott sets next Monday October 9 - Indigenous People's Day - as the start of the first of what could be many special legislative sessions in his quest for privat school vouchers: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/29/greg-abbott-texas-leglislature-school-vouchers/
...Advocates for vouchers have already spent millions, and intend to keep it up: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2023/10/01/texas-school-choice-vouchers-2023-drew-millions-statewide-campaign-spending/70786997007/
...Such a program would have the side effect of worsening segregation in Texas schools: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/letters/article/abbott-school-vouchers-education-special-session-18388020.php
...And none of this is likely to be easy for the Governor: https://www.texasobserver.org/abbott-school-vouchers-special-session/
Is Texas a "battleground state" in 2024? Ted Cruz thinks so: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/how-texas-become-battleground-2024
Some Black women in Texas have begun seeking more reliable maternity care outside our borders: https://www.businessinsider.com/women-crossing-state-lines-give-birth-black-maternal-mortality-crisis-2023-9
...While research on a new DNA-based COVID vaccine in San Antonio shows promise: https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2023/10/02/new-type-of-covid-vaccine-showing-promise-at-texas-biomed/
Thanks for listening! Please consider supporting Progress Texas at https://progresstexas.org/donate, and get your registration squared for the November election NOW at https://govotetexas.org/.
Anti-abortion attorneys have begun pressing Texas abortion funds for information on the people they've assisted, and those who have supported the funds, apparently intending future legal action under SB-8: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/28/texas-lawyer-abortion-ban-procedure-patient-information
...While, as expected, remote Cochran County becomes the first county bordering another state to enact a so-called "abortion trafficking" ordinance: https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/news/politics/government/2023/09/28/cochran-county-texas-adopts-abortion-ban-travel-for-procedure/70994567007/
Dallas U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett issues a scathing (and highly entertaining) critique of GOP efforts to impeach President Biden: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2023/sep/28/texas-democrat-asks-witness-how-many-times-gop-said-if-in-biden-allegations-video
Texas Republican lawmakers cheer on the impending partial federal government shutdown: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/09/28/in-government-shutdown-blame-game-many-texas-republicans-say-pain-will-be-worth-it/
Reuters reviews the current situation at the Texas/Mexico border: https://www.reuters.com/world/migrants-cross-into-texas-undeterred-by-razor-wire-or-new-asylum-rules-2023-09-28/
Ken Paxton gets into it with Yelp over crisis pregnancy centers: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/yelp-asks-court-block-texas-lawsuit-over-crisis-pregnancy-center-notices-2023-09-28/
...While Senator John Cornyn takes a quiet swipe at our thrice-indicted AG: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/09/28/john-cornyn-on-texas-ag-ken-paxton-impeachment-trial-verdict-its-time-to-move-on/
The water situation in Kyle, south of Austin, may be a bellwether for future statewide water issues: https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2023-09-29/is-kyles-water-problem-a-microcosm-of-central-texas-drought-issues/
And as fall arrives, the ages-long debate over beans in Texas chili returns: https://thetakeout.com/texas-red-chili-beans-vs-no-beans-debate-origin-history-1850881556
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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A partial shutdown of the federal government, ever more likely as of this weekend, will immediately impact Texans, in ways we may not have considered: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/27/government-shutdown-texas/
...Farmers in Texas will be impacted as well: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/27/farm-bill-texas-agriculture/
Many in the crowds of migrants overwhelming El Paso have no destination in mind, and no means to get there: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/27/us/texas-migrants-border-el-paso.html
...While a Palestine man accused in the deaths of dozens of migrants in a trafficking operation gone awry has pled guilty to an array of federal charges: https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/28/us/texas-migrant-smuggling-deaths-christian-martinez/index.html
Governor Abbott, while claiming credit for packing buses of migrants into New York City, pays the Big Apple a visit: https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/after-sending-busloads-of-migrants-to-nyc-texas-governor-visits-city-to-fault-biden-for-crisis/4718565/
Abbott is also dead set on school vouchers - do Texas families feel as strongly? https://komonews.com/renderer/komonews/amp/news/nation-world/texas-may-give-school-choice-the-green-light-do-families-want-it-greg-abbott-voucher-funding-public-private-charter-crisis-in-the-classroom
Phoenix House, a treatment organization for low-income teens struggling with addiction, is folding due to reduced state funding: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/27/texas-teens-drug-treatment/
Texas lawmakers in D.C. are asking a federal agency to stop Texas from disenrolling Medicaid beneficiaries via its broken enrollment system: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/28/texas-hhsc-medicaid/
Cochran County becomes the first Texas county on a state line to consider a so-called "abortion trafficking" ordinance: https://news4sanantonio.com/renderer/news4sanantonio/amp/news/local/a-texas-county-that-borders-new-mexico-is-the-latest-to-consider-an-abortion-travel-ban-tribune-people-politics-state-community-babies-medical
Laredo, Corpus Christi, Brownsville and Lubbock all fare poorly on a ranking of U.S. cities by quality of life for women: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/safe-texas-cities-for-women-18392201.php
The Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex ranks third in the world for transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/dallas-pollution-emissions-texas-18389243.php
Are robot cars the answer to all that pollution? Not so far in Houston: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/transportation/article/houston-cruise-self-driving-cars-18390306.php
...Nor in Austin: https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/west-austin-neighbors-petition-against-self-driving-cars/#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16958955627571&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kxan.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Faustin%2Fwest-austin-neighbors-petition-against-self-driving-cars%2F
Thanks for listening! Learn more about how YOU can support Progress Texas at https://progresstexas.org/, and all you need to know about the upcoming constitutional amendment election at https://govotetexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A Houston-based federal judge has found SB-12, the new state law banning drag performances, unconstitutional: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/drag-shows-lawsuit-18390106.php
State Comptroller Glenn Hegar calls Ken Paxton's bluff on his demand for back pay from his impeachment suspension: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/texas-comptroller-attorney-general-ken-paxton-cannot-receive-pay-back-from-suspension-time/
Latino lawmakers representing Texas call for Senator Bob Menendez to resign amidst bribery charges: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/26/menendez-democrats-congress-resignation/
Katy ISD's board votes to allow depictions of hineys in children's books in their libraries: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/katy-isd-books-banned-butt-18389450.php
A growing number of Texas school districts are considering stiffing the state on their "Robin Hood" payments: https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2023/09/with-a-special-session-ahead-two-north-texas-isds-delay-withholding-recapture-payments/
Angleton ISD pulls a congratulatory social media post for its homecoming king after hateful comments about his "feminine appearance": https://abc7.com/homecoming-king-eddy-wilson-angleton-texas-facebook/13831038/
...While Brazosport High bans last year's homecoming queen from crowning her successor because she wore a Mexican stole during May's graduation ceremony: https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/us/texas-homecoming-queen-mexican-heritage/index.html
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of San Antonio warns thousands of his constituents that their paychecks may be in peril over the looming government shutdown: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/government-shutdown-san-antonio-18389294.php
Dallas has been picked as one of three "hubs" for a new federal medical research effort: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/26/dallas-arpha-h-national-hub/
A massive new carbon storage facility is planned for the Permian Basin: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/carbon-capture-sequestration-milestone-permian-18389596.php
Texas now leads the nation for energy-thirsty Bitcoin mining: https://decrypt.co/198889/texas-top-us-state-for-bitcoin-mining-foundry-cambridge
The total eclipse on October 14 may have a negative impact on the Texas power grid: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/solar-eclipse-ercot-18390051.php
A new outside depiction of Texas gun culture is a freaky read: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/09/26/texas-guns-open-concealed-carry-laws/
Texas' storied BBQ scene may be on the verge of hard times: https://www.texasmonthly.com/bbq/is-texas-bbq-bubble-ready-to-burst/
Dallas County Democratic Party Chair Kardal Coleman, featured on our most recent Progress Texas Happy Hour, is set to address the Dallas City Council - and freshly-defected Mayor Eric Johnson - personally this morning: https://dallascityhall.com/government/Pages/Live.aspx
Thanks for listening! Please consider supporting our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/, and be sure you're ready to vote this November at https://govotetexas.org/.
Following the Paxton impeachment, you may have been ready for Texas politics to get a little more boring, at least for a little while - but that wasn't to be, especially if you live in Dallas. Friday saw the national announcement via an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal (!) of the defection of Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson from the Democratic Party - with whose support he had been re-elected just months ago - to a Republican Party fraught with infighting and anti-democratic goals. We've invited our good friend and Chair of the Dallas Democratic Party Kardal Coleman to share his insights on what's next in Big D - and we also welcome to the Progress Texas family veteran Texas political podcaster and activist Joe Deshotel, making his debut as a regular contributor to our podcasts at Progress Texas.
The Dallas Observer's primer on what it will take to recall Johnson: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/how-to-recall-dallas-mayor-eric-johnson-17553987
Thanks for listening! Now more than ever, in tough times for independent progressive media, Progress Texas could use your help to continue our important work. Please consider joining forces with us at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Former Ken Paxton AG's Office employees turned whistleblower will press their case forward: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/whistleblowers-paxton-lawsuit-18387875.php
...While their former boss is also seeking back pay from the impeachment period: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/09/25/texas-ag-ken-paxton-seeking-back-pay-for-time-suspended-while-under-impeachment/
...And a look at the rare Texas state provision that grants the AG power to upend the orders of state court decisions: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/25/texas-attorney-general-state-court-appeal/
The Biden Administration - and the environment - score a win from an unlikely source: https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-unlikely-legal-win-texas-judge-1829535
A 16th busload of migrants from Texas arrives in Los Angeles: https://www.dailynews.com/2023/09/25/sixteenth-bus-of-migrants-from-texas-arrives-in-los-angeles/
...While still more head for beleaguered New York City: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4219830-texas-sends-another-wave-of-migrants-to-new-york-city/
Texas ranks highest in the U.S. in the percentage of mass shootings that involve assault weapons and high capacity magazines: https://www.axios.com/local/san-antonio/2023/09/25/assault-weapons-mass-shootings-texas
...We also rank in the top 3 of U.S. states affected by expensive natural disasters: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/texas-ranks-among-states-most-impacted-by-natural-disasters-study-says/
...While a toxic red tide algae bloom arrives at the Texas coast for the first time in four years: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/25/red-tide-algae-texas-coast/
With all that, need a drink? Texas craft brewers brought home 19 medals from last weekend's Great American Beer Festival in Denver: https://www.statesman.com/story/entertainment/local/2023/09/25/austin-breweries-lazarus-brewing-company-vacancy-win-19-medals-2023-great-american-beer-festival/70964940007/
El Paso's mayor says his city is nearing a "breaking point" with the continued heavy stream of migrants: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-paso-texas-at-breaking-point-migrants-flood-border-mayor-says-2023-09-23/
Infighting within the Texas GOP appears to have passed a point of no return: https://www.khou.com/article/news/politics/texas-republican-fighting/285-eb96a95a-caaf-4a71-b20c-a4b67e314ef2
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson switches parties to become a Republican: https://www.tpr.org/government-politics/2023-09-24/dallas-mayor-eric-johnson-announces-he-will-leave-office-as-a-republican-in-2027
The family of a Barbers Hill ISD student suspended over his cultural hairstyle sues Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton for allowing the district to break the CROWN Act: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/24/us/darryl-george-texas-lawsuit-crown-act.html
An Amarillo judge known for anti-choice rulings on reproductive freedom has now ruled against the rights of drag perfomers: https://apnews.com/article/texas-drag-show-ban-f78d60eed0a55fb81ec924f78ad0b6d4
TribFest coverage from the weekend:
State Reps disagree (shocker) on school vouchers: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/23/texas-school-choice-special-session-education/
Paxton prosecutors thought conviction was in the bag, now think they may have been naive: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/23/texas-ken-paxton-impeachment-prosecutors/
The two primary hopefuls for the chance to depose Ted Cruz differ in their views on bipartisan compromise: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/23/texas-democrats-allred-gutierrez-cruz-senate/
With GOP in conflict, Texas Dems don't appear exactly aligned either: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/23/house-democrats-special-session-school-vouchers/
And Texas U.S. Reps discuss the looming threat of a federal shutdown: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/23/texas-house-democrats-describe-government-chaos/
...Which one Texas Republican U.S. Representative essentially guarantees will happen: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/north-texas-republican-federal-government-shutdown/287-e86c693d-5813-444e-bf5a-751c2bde699c
Required Reading Part 1 - Texas is on the brink of executing a man convicted on junk science and garbage evidence: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/24/texas-death-row-robert-roberson-supreme-court-shaken-baby-syndrome
Required Reading Part 2 - American democracy is threatened by three rich Texas men pushing a theocratic agenda: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/dunn-wilks-paxton-texas-theocracy-democracy-18380689.php
And a chunk of an asteroid, collected by a NASA space probe, is Texas-bound: https://www.space.com/nasa-osiris-rex-asteroid-sample-return-next-stop-texas
An unusual surge in migrant crossings at the U.S./Mexico border continues and remains without a pinpointed cause: https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/21/us/migrant-crossings-eagle-pass-state-of-emergency/index.html
...The effects of the surge are being felt in San Antonio: https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/migrants-surge-resource-center-18380326.php
Ken Paxton, exonerated (pardoned?) by fellow Republicans, goes on the attack against...his fellow Republicans: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2023/09/20/ken-paxtontucker-carlsontexasjohn-cornynimpeachment/
...While Lt. Governor Dan Patrick finds suspicion over his $3 million donation from a pro-Paxton growth silly: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/21/dan-patrick-donation-ken-paxton-pac-impeachment/
An Anti-Defamation League report on extremism in Texas is an alarming read: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/texas/extremists-in-texas-2023/285-f71d6f03-bf1f-4136-84b9-a9c3867ec674
ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas gives his organization an "A" grade for its performance over the summer: https://abc13.com/ercot-electric-reliability-council-of-texas-summer-tested-power-grid-will-hold-in-winter/13811292/
...While Texas tops rankings of both energy production AND energy consumption: https://www.kxan.com/investigations/texas-produces-and-consumes-the-most-electricity-in-the-us/
Texans who've been ticketed by officers from the recently-disbanded Coffee City Police Department want their tickets dismissed: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/coffee-city-police-18380508.php
Former El Paso County Commissioner Vince Perez is running for the House: https://kfoxtv.com/renderer/kfoxtv/amp/news/local/former-el-paso-county-commissioner-vince-perez-announces-run-for-texas-house-district-77-politics-el-paso-lina-ortega
As complaints mount about driverless cars in Austin, even more are on the way: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/complaints-continue-to-mount-as-austin-finds-itself-unable-to-regulate-driverless-rideshares
Thanks for listening! Please consider supporting Progress Texas in our important work by joining our ongoing membership drive: https://progresstexas.org/
An unusually large wave of migrants has crossed into and is now crowding Eagle Pass: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/20/us/texas-border-eagle-pass-migrants.html
...While escalated inspections of incoming cars and trucks have again caused major backups of international shipping traffic: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2023/09/20/texasbordereagle-passimmigrationgreg-abbott/
Several GOP Senators were primed to vote to convict Ken Paxton in his recent impeachment, but were spooked into switching their votes over worries of backlash from the right: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/20/ken-paxton-senators-dan-patrick-vote-impeachment/
...And the phrase "there are no coincidences in Austin" has an interesting history: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/are-there-coincidences-in-austin/
Barbers Hill ISD officials seek a court's insight into whether they have violated the CROWN Act in suspending a student over his cultural hairstyle: https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/20/us/darryl-george-barbers-hill-court-lawsuit/index.html
...While an East Texas high school principal is arrested after paddling a female student: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/19/texas-principal-corporal-punishment/
...And Katy ISD adds "nudity" as a book banning criterion, adding 14 titles to its blacklist: https://www.axios.com/local/houston/2023/09/20/katy-isd-bans-books-texas
U.S. News and World Report adjusts its college ranking methodology, resulting in upgrades for several Texas universities: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article279527189.html
...While "McCarthyism Rides Again" on Texas campuses: https://www.texasobserver.org/mccarthyism-texas-am-journalism-freedom/
A "brain drain" is gaining momentum in Texas over excessive conservative policies: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2023/09/20/brain-drain-in-texas-is-real-and-it-can-endanger-our-prosperity/
...While Dr. Peter Hotez releases a new book on the dangers of the anti-science movement: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/peter-hotez-book-antiscience-deadly/
...And new COVID vaccines drop: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/20/free-covid-19-tests-updated-vaccine/
New studies show the continued rise of extremist groups in Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/21/texas-hate-crimes-extremists/
Thanks for listening! Please consider supporting Progress Texas and our ongoing, important work as our membership drive continues. Learn more at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Education in the spotlight, as Governor Greg Abbott promises special session after special session - and threatens primary challenges for Republican resistors - in his quest for school vouchers: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2023/09/19/texas-gov-abbott-threatens-special-sessions-even-primary-battles-to-pass-school-choice/
...While school districts across the state are already struggling to survive: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/19/texas-san-antonio-plano-school-districts-closures/
...Fort Worth and Plano ISD's join a growing number of districts joining a lawsuit over rating metrics against TEA: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/education/growing-number-texas-school-districts-suing-tea-heres-why/287-db7a905d-cd88-4b5f-a6a9-2cc274a4d877
...A federal judge issues a formal written order undermining the new "Reader Act" law: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/judge-ruling-texas-book-rating-law-18376394.php
...And Texas Senator Borris Miles weighs in on a Houston-area high school junior's ongoing suspension over his hairstyle, an apparent violation of the new CROWN Act: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/barbers-hill-isd-student-suspended-hair/285-6d1cd9b0-8959-443e-b1ec-917018fefb6c
CROWN Act co-author Rep. Rhetta Bowers has announced a run to replace Colin Allred in the U.S. House: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/09/19/texas-rep-rhetta-bowers-changes-course-launches-congressional-bid-to-replace-colin-allred/
Texas National Guard troops may have violated U.S. law yesterday by ordering migrants to cross back into Mexico through the Rio Grande: https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/2023/09/19/texas-national-guard-order-asylum-seekers-at-border-back-into-mexico/70903227007/
A 14th busload of migrants from Texas arrives in Los Angeles: https://abc7.com/texas-migrants-los-angeles-asylum-seekers/13803043/
And apparently, even in the cooler fall weather, ERCOT cannot fully guarantee reliable electricity for Texas: https://www.khou.com/article/news/investigations/ercot-report-rotating-power-outage-scenarios-2023/285-7dc74070-318e-434a-91d4-623444670bac
Thanks for listening! Please consider supporting Progress Texas and our ever-more-important work by joining our ongoing membership drive: https://progresstexas.org/.
Following his acquittal from impeachment, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton faces even more serious state and federal charges: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/18/us/texas-ken-paxton-legal-problems.html
...While Republicans who voted to convict him face problems from within their own party: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/16/ken-paxton-impeachment-kelly-hancock-robert-nichols/
...Former President Trump takes credit (of course) for Paxton's acquittal: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4210367-trump-says-he-saved-paxton-from-being-convicted-in-texas-impeachment-push/
...And Senator Angela Paxton spins the affair (no pun intended) into an opportunity for anti-feminist religious manipulation: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/angela-paxton-ken-impeachment-biblical-womanhood/
Governor Greg Abbott spews Epoch Times falsehoods about a Texas public school district in advance of the special session on vouchers: https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2023-09-18/greg-abbott-casually-spreads-misinformation-about-leander-isd/
A North Texas sheriff, previously connected to the Oath Keepers, is convicted of unlawfully detaining two citizens in his jail: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/oath-keeper-sheriff-convicted-violating-inmate-rights-1234827432/
...While Texas DPS head Steve McCraw gets a raise that puts his salary at several times that of the typical Texas LEO: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/dps-mccraw-raise-operation-lone-star-18329377.php
A Barber Hills High junior is suspended from school over his hairstyle for a second time, in spite of the new CROWN Act: https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-school-suspend-black-student-locs-hair-lawyer-2023-9
A list of the books that have been banned by Texas schools (so far) makes a handy shopping list for parents: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/list-of-texas-banned-books-shows-state-has-most-in-us-17480532
Colorado U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert is off the schedule for the conservative Texas Youth Summit following hanky-panky in a Denver theater: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/texas/lauren-boebert-beetlejuice-texas-youth-summit/285-92fbdc2f-9e82-4b1e-a8b9-5f026e5873e3
And not only driverless cars, but driverless TRUCKS will soon be a feature of Texas roadways: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-09-13/driverless-trucks-leave-california-for-texas-over-new-laws
Thanks for listening! Please consider helping Progress Texas continue our important work by becoming part of our ongoing membership drive, at https://progresstexas.org/. Thank you!
The acquittal of Ken Paxton is anything but a surprise to progressives in Texas: https://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/nicole-russell/article279427534.html
...More entertaining is the escalation of GOP infighting: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2023/09/18/texas-legislature-senate-house-split-deepens-attorney-general-ken-paxton-acquittal/70885735007/
...Lt. Governer Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan are at severe odds over the impeachment: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/16/ken-paxton-impeachment-dan-patrick/
...The GOP civil war is not going well at present for the moderate side: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/17/us/texas-republicans-paxton-impeachment.html
...But, the disarray could work in favor of opponents of school vouchers: https://www.reformaustin.org/texas-legislature/texas-lawmakers-hold-their-ground-voucher-deals-face-skepticism/
...And Paxton still faces serious legal peril beyond mere political theater: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/16/texas-ken-paxton-attorney-general-legal-cases-securities-fbi/
Dallas ISD's Superintendent believes controversial school ratings changes at TEA are designed to help the argument for vouchers: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/carter-in-the-classroom/dallas-isd-superintendent-says-new-grading-method-for-texas-schools-is-connected-to-school-voucher-debate/3339554/
...While hundreds of thousands of Texas school kids are suddenly without health coverage: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/texas-schools-and-families-struggle-as-hundreds-of-thousands-of-kids-lose-medicaid-amid-unwinding
Cooler weather notwithstanding, we mustn't forget that Texas is in the midst of an existential climate crisis: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/07/texas-hottest-summer-2023/
...As a cotton farming advocacy group continues to doubt climate change, while worrying about threats to their government subsidies: https://www.bigcountryhomepage.com/news/climate-change-the-future-of-cotton-production-in-west-texas/
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Ken Paxton defense lead Tony Buzbee calls four friendly witnesses - all current Texas AG Office employees - before resting: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2023/09/14/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-impeachment-trial-live-updates-coverage-day-eight/70836056007/
Donald Trump weighs in - while admitting he doesn't think President Biden is too old to server: https://www.axios.com/2023/09/14/trump-biden-age-2024-election
Senator John Cornyn voices support for the Biden impeachment inquiry, contradicting his own prior views: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/14/john-cornyn-biden-impeachment-inquiry/
Near-hopeless Republican Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis will be in Midland on Wednesday: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-09-14/desantis-to-detail-energy-policy-during-texas-visit-next-week
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo will depart in-patient care for clinical depression and plans to return to duty on October 2: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/14/harris-county-lina-hidalgo-mental-health-leave/
Mitchell and Goliad Counties have implemented local ordinances that allow vigilantes to sue people they suspect of driving through those counties on their way to out-of-state abortion care: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/texas-abortion-trafficking/285-31f15a6c-dcf1-4711-a02b-2686ce9f7552
Dallas ISD joins several other districts in a lawsuit against the Texas Education Agency over a new school rating system they say will artificially degrade scores: https://thehub.dallasisd.org/2023/09/14/dallas-isd-joins-other-texas-districts-in-tea-lawsuit/
In a Democrat vs. Democrat conflict, Hays County sees the first test of a new state law allowing for the removal of county DA's who refuse to prosecute select state laws: https://www.kxan.com/news/local/hays/hays-county-district-clerk-files-petition-to-remove-da-citing-new-texas-law/
Rosie Cuellar announces a run for the open House seat representing District 80, including Uvalde: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/14/henry-rosie-cuellar-texas-house-uvalde/
Coffee City, which made the news for its oversized police department largely staffed with officers who had been fired from other departments due to misconduct, fires its police chief and disbands its PD: https://www.kltv.com/2023/09/11/coffee-city-council-fires-police-chief-deactivates-police-department-wake-investigation/
And you're not exaggerating - Texas officially has the worst drivers in the country: https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2023/09/14/texas-has-worst-drivers-in-the-country-report-says/
Thanks for listening! If you're enjoying our podcasts, we'd appreciate your support as we continue our membership drive - join the fun officially at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Anticipation that Ken Paxton's alleged mistress might testify in the ongoing impeachment trial is for naught: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article279286904.html
...As former Paxton aide Drew Wicker is grilled over that infamous kitchen remodel: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/13/ken-paxton-impeachment-trial-drew-wicker/
...And House managers commit an unforced (and almost catastrophic) error: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/13/ken-paxton-impeachment-trial-laura-olson-drew-wicker/
Republicans maneuver to block the Biden administration's plans for immigrants to "remain in Texas": https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-09-13/republicans-biden-families-remain-in-texas
...While the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services re-opens a troubled housing facility for migrant teens at Pecos: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/migrant-children-housing-facility-reopens-pecos-texas-spike-border-arrivals/
The new Texas law designed to criminalize drag performances is blocked for another two weeks: https://www.kxan.com/lgbtq/texas-drag-performance-law-blocked-from-taking-effect-again/
Ted Cruz gets crosswise with the U.S. Secretary of Education over a masking plan for a kindergarten class in Maryland fighting a COVID outbreak: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/09/13/education-sec-cardona-ted-cruz-wrong-to-oppose-masking-in-classroom-with-covid-outbreak/
San Antonio's local energy boss says ERCOT has not prepared the Texas grid for the oncoming winter: https://www.expressnews.com/business/article/ercot-grid-gas-supply-ready-winter-cps-energy-18362209.php
...While battery storage is hailed as a possible solution to Texas' power grid woes: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/ercot-grid-battery-solar-enel-texas-18350609.php
...And a Chinese solar panel company moves forward with a $200 million new production plant near Dallas: https://www.dallasnews.com/business/real-estate/2023/09/11/chinese-company-plans-200-million-solar-panel-manufacturing-plant-in-wilmer/
Continued population growth remains a the core of continued economic growth in Texas: https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-population-state-economic-growth-housing-2023-9
And for the second day in a row, a female police officer in Texas is recognized: https://www.12newsnow.com/article/news/local/vidor-officer-named-officer-of-the-year-by-texas-law-enforcement-association/502-584740d8-6ffa-4d12-8420-7d69ad75d565
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Some Texans have been paying close attention all day, every day for the last week as the historic impeachment of Ken Paxton unfolds - others have, you know, jobs and stuff. So we're glad to have stolen a bit of time today with one particular Texan who's doing both at the same time! Justin Miller writes on Texas politics for the Texas Observer and has been covering every minute of the proceedings - which as of tonight, appear to be on the verge of wrapping up. Will Paxton be convicted? And what comes next for him, and for Texas? We discuss.
Find Justin Miller and all his great work for the Texas Observer at https://www.texasobserver.org/author/justin-miller/.
Thanks as always for listening! We're looking for about 21 more new regular, reliable supporting members to help Progress Texas continue our work into what's shaping up to be a monumental election year. Please consider joining the team at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Impeachment Day 6: Outside lawyer Brandon Cammack, central to Ken Paxton's questionable relationship with Nate Paul, appears to have ended up a victim himself: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/09/12/ken-paxton-impeachment-trial-takeaways-day-6/
...While former Travis County DA Margaret Moore testifies that she found Nate Paul's claims of law enforcement persecution "ridiculous": https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article279239704.html
Texas lawmakers involved in the two Trump impeachments find no parallel in new impeachment inquiry targeting President Joe Biden: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/12/texas-congress-biden-impeach-trump/
A trial is underway over Texas voting laws that could have monumental implications in the 2024 election: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/politics/texas-politics/trial-begins-over-texas-voter-laws-that-sparked-38-day-walkout-by-democrats-in-2021/3335152/
A police shooting amidst a mental health emergency in McKinney draws the scrutiny of both the Texas Rangers and the local NAACP: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-dps-investigating-officer-involved-shooting-that-left-mckinney-man-dead/3336590/
Law enforcement officials in San Antonio say the permitless carrying of guns in Texas has increased crime and made law enforcement more dangerous: https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2023/09/12/texas-constitutional-carry-law-impacts-highlighted-during-district-4-public-safety-town-hall/
The Texas Education Agency is delaying its annual rating of Texas schools, which could affect the upcoming special session on school vouchers: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/12/texas-education-accountability-ratings/
Texas DPS and the Texas Rangers promote a woman to the rank of Texas Ranger Major for the first time: https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2023/09/12/unbelievable-honor-dps-selects-first-woman-to-serve-as-texas-ranger-major/
The oysters that recently killed a 30-something man came from a Galveson restaurant: https://nypost.com/2023/09/12/texas-man-dies-after-eating-raw-oysters-over-labor-day-weekend/
Thanks for listening - please consider helping us continue our important work at Progress Texas by joining our ongoing membership drive! More at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Day 5 of the Ken Paxton impeachment sees the most extensive discussion yet of his extramarital affair: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/11/ken-paxton-affair-impeachment-trial/
...While a former deputy reveals the AG's general mistrust of law enforcement: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/11/ken-paxton-mark-penley-impeachment-trial/
...And a former Travis County assistant DA reveals prior investigations of Paxton's involvement with Nate Paul: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/09/11/ken-paxtonimpeachmenttexastrial/
Famed novelist John Grisham weighs in on the faulty science that has kept a Texas father on death row for two decades: https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/news/john-grisham-on-robert-roberson-texas-may-execute-an-innocent-man
A Houston-area school district continues disciplining Black students over their hairstyles, in defiance of the CROWN Act: https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/11/us/barbers-hill-student-hair-suspension/index.html
The University of Alabama condemns racist and homophobic slurs directed by its football team's fans at visiting Texas Longhorns players: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/09/11/alabama-condemns-racist-homophobic-taunts-by-fans-loss-texas/
A North Austin church is set to become the first to hear an AI-generated sermon this Sunday: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/chatgpt-ai-sermon-austin-18360010.php
Thanks for listening! Please consider helping Progress Texas continue our important work in Texas by taking part in our ongoing membership drive. Learn more at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Friday saw testimony from legendary Texas Ranger David Maxwell: https://news.yahoo.com/former-texas-lawman-says-warned-210156665.html
...While prominent voices on the right continue to support the justification for the proceedings - some more surprising than others: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/texas-republicans-weigh-in-on-paxton-impeachment-after-week-one-of-trial/
...And the Texas Tribune has a good first-week summary, and a livestream to watch as the impeachment continues: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/09/ken-paxton-impeachment-trial-main-themes/
A major power outage in North Texas - but don't blame ERCOT this time: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas/tens-of-thousands-across-north-texas-without-power-following-friday-storms/287-72e702e1-f376-4d25-a2bc-e017094ff047
...While the Feds weigh in on Texas' energy struggles, though not in the way many progressives have hoped: https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/08/energy/texas-power-emergency-heat-wave/index.html
...And somebody out there is making a LOT of money on all this power trouble: https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/texas-power-prices-20000-percent-heat-wave-ercot-grid-emergency-2023-9
...And let's not forget our mounting water woes: https://www.wired.com/story/a-summer-of-record-heat-deals-costly-damage-to-texas-water-systems/
Another solid Democrat has announced a run against Ted Cruz: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/09/carl-sherman-2024-senate-democrat/
And Texas loses a beloved musical icon - Charlie Robison - far too young, at 59: https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/texas-country-royalty-charlie-robison-had-died/
Thanks for listening - please consider helping us continue our work by joining in on our ongoing membership drive! Learn more at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Paxton aides say they turned him in to the FBI when it became clear he had been compromised: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/09/07/ken-paxton-impeachment-trial-takeaways-day-3/
...While Senator John Cornyn finds the whole mess "very deeply disturbing": https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/09/07/john-cornyn-texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-impeachment-trial-disturbing/
...And deeper rifts within the GOP are laid bare, with possible 2024 implications: https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-nightly/2023/09/07/the-battle-thats-tearing-the-texas-gop-apart-00114616
Yet another power conservation plea from ERCOT on Thursday night: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/ercot-calls-for-conservation-thursday-after-energy-emergency-alert-wednesday/3332195/
...While transmission lines present yet another weak link for the Texas grid: https://www.dallasnews.com/business/energy/2023/09/07/texas-power-emergency-hinged-on-stranded-wind-farm-supplies/
...And outrage spreads over news that Bitcoin companies are profiting from Texas' power woes: https://decrypt.co/155460/how-bitcoin-miners-in-texas-are-making-millions-without-mining-at-all
Texas can keep its deathtrap buoy barrier in the Rio Grande for now, on appeal: https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/07/politics/texas-water-barriers-migrants-appeal/index.html
...While the death of a 3 year old on a migrant bus appears to have been preventable: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2023/09/07/texas-migrant-bus-death-coroners-report/70786395007/
...And the migrant buses themselves are not having the impact on "sanctuary cities" that Governor Abbott has aimed for: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/07/us/migrant-buses-texas-nyc-los-angeles.html
...And the Biden administration considers forcing migrants to stay in Texas: https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-09-07/biden-migrant-families-border
A vanishingly small number of legal abortions in Texas so far this year is likely an undercount due to fear of state reprisal: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/07/texas-abortion-emergency-data
Austin has been over-run by rogue robot cars - and the city is powerless to stop them: https://www.kut.org/transportation/2023-09-07/austin-driverless-vehicles-cruise-complaints-rules
In Texas, for ANY progressive, it takes serious guts and commitment to run for office - it also helps to have a keen mind for politics, a strong heart for service, and buckets of class and charisma - former Miss Texas and SMU Law graduate Averie Bishop, by those standards, fits the bill pretty nicely! Bishop is running to unseat longtime TX-112 Rep. Angie Chen Button, a Republican representing a district that has been recently re-drawn to entrench GOP control - does this young, first-time candidate have what it takes to beat these long odds? Listen and decide for yourself.
Find Averie Bishop at https://www.averieforall.com/ and...
On TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@averiebishop?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc
On Twitter (or X or whatever): https://twitter.com/averiedanielle?lang=en
On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/averiebishop/
And find us (and help support our ongoing work!) at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Former second-in-command Jeff Mateer recounts Paxton's erratic push for Nate Paul: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/09/06/ken-paxton-impeachment-trial-takeaways-day-2/
...Bringing up Paxton's adulterous affair for the first time, in front of Senator Angela Paxton: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/06/ken-paxton-impeachment-trial-mateer/
...NPR's Politics Podcast brings in Texas reporters to talk about national implications of the Paxton impeachment: https://www.npr.org/2023/09/06/1197846176/the-national-implications-of-impeaching-texas-attorney-general
ERCOT suffers its closest shave yet this summer with rolling blackouts: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-09-07/texas-declares-grid-emergency-as-heat-stokes-power-demand
...With 77 minutes of white knuckles in the control room: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/06/texas-ercot-power-grid-rolling-blackouts/
...While a Bitcoin operator is now surviving on ERCOT energy credits: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/06/texas-paid-bitcoin-miner-riot-31point7-million-to-shut-down-in-august.html
Texas immediately appeals a judge's order to move Greg Abbott's floating Rio Grande deathtrap: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/judge-orders-texas-to-move-large-floating-barrier-to-riverbank-of-rio-grande-by-sept-15/3331452/
Texas abortion advocates celebrate a decision by Mexico's Supreme Court to decriminalize the procedure: https://www.tpr.org/bioscience-medicine/2023-09-06/texas-abortion-advocates-celebrate-mexicos-decriminalization
...While worries mount about new small-town experiments against "abortion trafficking": https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/09/texas-abortion-ban-trafficking-laws.html
Oklahoma's State Department of Education announces a new partnership with Prager U: https://kfor.com/news/local/osde-announces-partnership-with-prageru/
...While Texas State Board of Education members argue to downplay human-caused climate change in Texas schools: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/09/06/texas-climate-change-textbooks/
A trial over the Texas voter suppression law SB-1 is set to begin on Monday: https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2023-08-18/texas-voter-suppression-law-violates-civil-rights-judge-rules/
Thanks for listening! We're proud to announce that we are now over halfway to our goal of 50 new sustaining members - please consider helping us get there! Learn more at https://progresstexas.org/.
The impeachment of Ken Paxton rolls into Day 2, after a dramatic launch yesterday: https://www.npr.org/2023/09/05/1197811021/paxton-impeachment-trial-texas-attorney-general-ag-conspiracy-bribery
...While the state's well-funded far-right's campaign to pressure Senators to dismiss fails: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4188298-texas-gop-ken-paxton-impeachment-critics-primary-threats/
...Paxton himself couldn't be bothered to stick around: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/09/05/three-things-to-know-about-texas-ag-ken-paxtons-impeachment-trial-today/
...Some hope the trial represents a revival of bipartisanship in Texas: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-09-06/ken-paxton-impeachment-texas-republicans-democrats-bipartisan
...And others note it's a sign of a widening split within the GOP: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66722742
...Watch the proceedings of Day Two here: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/06/ken-paxton-impeachment-trial-live-updates/
Governor Greg Abbott brags online about the thousands of migrants he's trafficked out of Texas: https://nypost.com/2023/09/06/texas-gov-greg-abbot-says-the-state-has-bused-35k-migrants-to-sanctuary-cities/
...While his razor wire-laden buoy deathtrap in the Rio Grande is a complete (and expensive) failure: https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/texas-floating-border-wall-fails-to-deter-migrants-75ebfcae
State attorneys want to implement parts of the new book rating law, currently blocked by a federal judge: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/93109-texas-argues-parts-of-new-book-rating-law-should-be-allowed-to-take-effect.html
A new contender for the Democratic nomination to face Ted Cruz next year announces candidacy: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/05/us/politics/ted-cruz-mark-gonzalez-senate.html
A new explainer on right wing oil moguls the Wilks brothers and their threat to democracy: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/05/texas-fracking-billionaire-brothers-prageru-daily-wire
...While similar oil players have abandoned wells all along the Texas coast, which are now leaking: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/abandoned-oil-wells-coast-bays/
The Eastern District of Texas is one of 25 federal court districts that have neve had a non-white judge, in spite of a 30% non-white population: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/color-of-justice-all-white-benches-persist-in-us-district-courts
Thanks for listening! Learn how you can support the important work of Progress Texas at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The historic impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is underway this morning at the Texas State Capitol: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ken-paxton-impeachment-trial-texas-attorney-general/
...With big conservative money doing all it can to prevent his removal: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/04/us/ken-paxton-impeachment-conservative-lobbying.html
...And voters split on opinion, largely along party lines: https://www.hppr.org/hppr-news/2023-09-05/about-half-of-texas-voters-think-ken-paxtons-actions-justify-removing-him-as-attorney-general
...While the Texas Tribune provides an outline of the procedure AND a handy livestream: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/04/ken-paxton-impeachment-trial-operate/
...And finally, a whole new scandal comes to light with Senator Angela Paxton at its center: https://www.texasobserver.org/angela-ken-paxton-frinzi-multiband/
In other news - the new ban on drag performances in the presence of minors remains blocked: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/texas-barred-from-enforcing-newly-minted-anti-drag-show-law
...While the "Death Star" law is on the books under appeal, against the protests of Democratic AND Republican city leaders: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/republican-and-democratic-cities-band-together-to-blow-up-the-death-star-bill/
More details on ERCOT plans to limit the affordability and reliability of emergency battery storage power: https://www.expressnews.com/business/article/batteries-buoyed-texas-grid-operators-wary-new-18342962.php
...While a great idea - paying Texas power consumers to conserve in emergency crunches - is floated: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/texas-energy-grid-demand-response-18340732.php
An Austin hotel is set to host a Nazi-inspired eugenics conference in December: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/04/natal-conference-austin-texas-eugenics
Tech professionals who migrated to Texas from California are having second thoughts in droves: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/california-texas-tech-workers-18346616.php
...While Texas comes in at the bottom of this year's Oxfam ranking of the best U.S. states for workers: https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/countries/united-states/poverty-in-the-us/best-states-to-work-2023/
Thanks as always for listening! Learn how you can help Progress Texas produce our acclaimed podcasts and more at https://progresstexas.org/.
The Instagram account of the AI-assisted artists RuPublicans has been a rallying point for the Texas LGBTQ+ community and its allies, just as several new laws perscuting their community have been enacted in the Lone Star State. We're proud to be joined by Craig, one half of the couple behind the RuPublicans effort, as well as representatives of two Texas orgs that have benefitted from the terrific work of RuPublicans: Brad Pritchett is Field Director for Equality Texas, and Jaryn Holbrook Janeway is the Director of Programs and Operations for Out Youth.
Find the RuPublicans' great work at https://www.instagram.com/rupublicans/?hl=en, Equality Texas at https://www.equalitytexas.org/, and Out Youth at https://www.outyouth.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A judge temporarily blocks a new Texas law limiting drag shows: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/31/us/drag-show-ruling-texas.html
The Texas Supreme Court allows a new law banning gender-affirming care for minors in Texas to take effect while it's under consideration: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/texas-top-court-lets-ban-gender-treatments-minors-take-effect-2023-08-31/
A judge has blocked enforcement of a new law requiring publishers to rate books based on sexual content: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/93089-judge-blocks-texas-book-ban-law.html
A judge has blocked new teacher evaluation procedures introduced under the state takeover of Houston ISD: https://news.yahoo.com/union-sues-over-changes-teacher-192157908.html
A new law forbids Texas HOA's from discriminating against Texans who rely on housing vouchers: https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2023-hoa-texas-homes-dallas-renters/
A new law does away with Texas' "pink tax" on menstrual and infant care products: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/09/01/texas-bans-menstrual-product-tax/70720766007/
A national LGBTQ+ college organization excludes public universities in Texas from its annual best-of rankings due to new laws banning campus outreach offices: https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/texas-florida-schools-excluded-lgbtq-friendly-college-list-new-state-l-rcna102516
...While a student group at Rice University, a private college unaffected by the law, reaches out to LGBTQ+ students statewide: https://abc13.com/sb-17-senate-bil-rice-university-lgbtq-college-services/13722810/
The Texas National Guard soldier accused of shooting a man across the border in Juarez has reportedly been suspended as investigations continue: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/texas-guardsman-suspended-after-wounding-man-cross-border-104272333
Texas power consumers are growing weary of continuous conservation pleas from ERCOT: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/31/texas-ercot-grid-energy-conservation-fatigue/
...While Austin U.S. Representative Greg Casar begins work on a federal requirement for Texas to connect to national grids: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/texas-congressman-drafts-legislation-to-connect-texas-to-national-grids/
Texas figures into the developing corruption scandals surrounding U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/2023/08/31/clarence-thomas-trips-harlan-crow-supreme-court-abortion-roe-wade-texas-ice-storm/70728514007/
A Texas man accused of threatening Georgia officials over the 2020 election has entered a guilty plea: https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/31/politics/guilty-plea-election-officials-threat/index.html
Be warned about poo-poo if you're spending this Labor Day weekend at a Texas beach: https://www.khou.com/article/news/investigations/texas-beach-fecal-contamination-investigation/285-50f6dd01-586a-4f66-988c-82cf4a24a332
And, while it almost feels de rigueur these days - another shooting in a public place in Texas takes two lives: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/08/31/austin-texas-shooting-arboretum-mall-victims/70732766007/
Thanks for listening! Please help Progress Texas continue our important work by taking part in our ongoing member drive at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The "Death Star" law, designed for state pre-emption of a wide range of local ordinances in Texas cities and set to take effect tomorrow, has been ruled unconsitutional by a judge in Austin: https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2023-08-30/texas-death-star-law-ruled-unconstitutional-two-days-before-taking-effect/
New details of Ken Paxton's lavish lifestyle as Texas Attorney General come to light in advance of his impeachment: https://apnews.com/article/texas-ken-paxton-impeachment-perks-travel-cake-97f8ef6ab925785977ff54b796f6c4f9
Dozens of migrants have been treated for razor wire injuries at the border in the last two months: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/border-wire-injuries-18336354.php
...While the Los Angeles City Council considers criminal charges against Governor Greg Abbott over continued busing of migrants into that city: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-08-30/migrant-bus-abbott-city-council-motion
Studies find that Black babies in Harris County are twice as likely to die before age 1 than those of other racial groups: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/29/texas-maternal-mortality-black-women/
ERCOT releases yet another public plea for conservation - and it wasn't even that hot yesterday: https://abc13.com/texas-power-grid-energy-saving-tips-houston-heat-weather/13719257/
...While ERCOT officials consider measures that would make battery storage more expensive and less effective. What the hell? https://www.douglewin.com/p/is-ercot-attempting-to-eighty-six
Almost 800 new laws will take effect in Texas tomorrow, and it was hard work isolating the three most ridiculous to pick on: https://progresstexas.org/nearly-800-laws-take-effect-sept-1-here-are-most-misguided
Ted Cruz decries non-existent medical recommendations on beer consumption (though he might consider cutting back himself): https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ted-cruz-beer-awkward_n_64f00663e4b0ca54cc6be9d7
And the Ru-Publicans billboard is up in Austin: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/2023/08/30/drag-show-gov-greg-abbott-texas-law-austin-billboard-rupublicans-ai-republicans/70717759007/
Thanks for listening! Please consider supporting our work at Progress Texas by taking part in our Summer Member Drive - find out more at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A whistleblower report accuses intelligence officers with Operation Lone Star of conducting illegal spying operations: https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-national-guard-whatsapp-spying-border-iraq-watchdog-2023-8
Texas Senators were at the Capitol yesterday in closed-door preparation for next week's impeachment trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/08/29/senate-prepping-for-texas-attorney-general-ken-paxtons-impeachment-trial/
...While new details of Austin real estate developer Nate Paul's inappropriate access to the AG's office are revealed: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/29/ken-paxton-nate-paul-brandon-cammack-impeachment/
ERCOT pleads with Texas energy consumers to scale back out of desperation for a seventh time since mid-August: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/local/2023/08/29/ercot-announcement-conserve-energy-texas-heat-wave-hot-weather-temperatures/70710636007/
...While new offshore wind power opportunities are passed over by potential lessees due to Texas' hostile political environment: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/politics/lone-star-politics/after-blistering-summer-texas-voters-to-decide-if-billions-should-go-to-power-plants/3325604/
...And while the state will ask Texas voters to commit billions to the building of new fossil fuel-burning power plants: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/politics/lone-star-politics/after-blistering-summer-texas-voters-to-decide-if-billions-should-go-to-power-plants/3325604/
Democratic members of the State Board of Education say PragerU materials are NOT approved for Texas classrooms....at least not yet: https://www.kut.org/education/2023-08-29/democrats-on-the-state-board-of-education-pledge-to-fight-efforts-to-introduce-prageru-in-texas
Legal challenges by Williamson County against the City of Austin's plans for a supportive housing project for the homeless are dismissed by a judge: https://communityimpact.com/austin/north-northwest-austin/government/2023/08/29/judge-rejects-williamson-county-challenge-over-austin-homeless-housing-project/
And, either due to pride or poverty, Texas remains the top state for retaining its native-born citizens: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/29/texas-native-born-stay/
Thanks for listening! If you're enjoying our podcasts, please consider becoming a REAL part of the effort for progressive change in Texas by joining our ongoing Summer Member Drive! Details at https://progresstexas.org/.
Governor Greg Abbott makes highly arguable statements about Texas' "sovereignty" in a national op-ed: https://nypost.com/2023/08/28/texas-gov-abbott-we-will-take-biden-to-supreme-court-to-protect-border/
...While an Operation Lone Star soldier shoots a man across the border on the other side of the Rio Grande in Juarez: https://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/ny-texas-national-guard-soldier-shot-man-juarez-from-el-paso-across-rio-grande-20230829-mu7rzysgrnf4xnnfmvzvcqkg54-story.html
...And a Christian group gains thousands of petition signatures protesting Abbott's family separation tactics at the border: https://www.newsweek.com/thousands-christians-condemn-greg-abbotts-migrant-mistreatment-1822635
Ken Paxton says he will not resign ahead of next week's impeachment proceedings: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/politics/lone-star-politics/wrong-texas-republican-attorney-general-ken-paxton-says-he-wont-resign-ahead-of-impeachment-trial/3325333/
...While Lt. Governor Dan Patrick picks a second judge to be his assistant during the trial: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/28/ken-paxton-impeachment-presiding-officer-texas/
We apparently came closer to a serious statewide energy crisis last week than most of us thought: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/texas-narrowly-avoided-power-emergency-last-week-18334289.php
LGBTQ+ groups testified yesterday in a Houston courtroom against the new Texas drag ban law: https://abc13.com/drag-shows-senate-bill-12-show-ban-equality-texas/13713193/
Coffee City, in East Texas, has become "a magnet for troubled cops": https://www.khou.com/article/news/investigations/coffee-city-texas-police-officers/285-4220e73c-90d4-474e-b59e-2033270cd8e9
Officials in Anchorage, Alaska are taking cues from Houston on homelessness strategy: https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2023/08/29/seeking-shelterseeking-solutions-is-houston-texas-model-ending-homelessness-anchorage/
Thanks for listening! Please consider helping us continue our important work by joining our summer member drive - find out more at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A new law will provide very narrow exceptions allowing doctors to provide abortion care to Texans with problematic pregnancies: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/28/texas-limited-access-abortion-law
A judge finds new transgender care bans unconstitutional - and once again, the Texas AG immediately appeals: https://www.metroweekly.com/2023/08/texas-law-banning-transgender-health-care-to-take-effect/
A San Antonio drag company holds its last show following a ban on public drag performances beginning Friday: https://www.npr.org/2023/08/27/1196219618/a-texas-restaurant-holds-its-last-family-friendly-drag-show-before-new-law-goes-
The financial connections between Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and soon-to-be-impeached AG Ken Paxton raise questions of impartiality: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2023/08/27/texas-impeachment-dan-patrick-ken-paxton-political-money-connection/70682969007/
Parents are worried as Houston ISD's return to school today, for the first time after the state takeover: https://apnews.com/article/houston-school-takeover-texas-libraries-discipline-44afa1a8d85d09cdcfd19879989d5379
Texas now leads all U.S. states in the department of school book banning: https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/27/us/school-library-book-ban-increase-dg/index.html
A tenth migrant bus from Texas arrives in Los Angeles: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-08-26/a-10th-bus-of-asylum-seekers-arrives-in-l-a-from-texas
ERCOT calls for power conservation for a fourth consecutive day (over a weekend?) as cold front-associated winds knock out power for thousands in Austin: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/sunday-power-outages-cold-front/269-fbc8ae7b-a859-4c25-8738-d2a6ca0aed4e
Mall Of Abilene management abandons rescue plans of area wildlife conservationists and kills most of a colony of Mexican freetail bats roosting in its building: https://www.chron.com/life/wildlife/article/texas-bats-killed-abilene-mall-18331169.php
...While H.E.B. teams with wildlife filmmakers to produce a terrific new five-film series: https://www.texasmonthly.com/travel/our-texas-our-future-review-wildlife-conservation/
THANK YOU for listening! If you're enjoying our podcasts, please consider becoming an important part of our efforts during our Summer Member Drive! Learn more at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
Various Christian religious orders in Texas have begun to merge in worrisome ways: in particular, the growing political goals of the "prosperity gospel" movement have found common cause among those following the "Seven Mountains Mandate" philosophy - one that calls for Christians to take over essentially all aspects of our lives. Diving deep into all of this has been our friend, investigative reporter Steven Monacelli, who has recently published two reports on all of this for the Texas Observer - what he reveals is unsurprising in some ways, but also troubling in the growing organization and influence these religious movements are gaining not only in Texas, but nationwide.
Find all of Steven Monacelli's work for the Texas Observer at https://www.texasobserver.org/author/steven-monacelli/.
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ERCOT and the Texas power grid narrowly avoided rolling blackouts last night - what's in store for this hot weekend? https://www.tpr.org/environment/2023-08-24/strong-possibility-of-power-outages-thursday-evening-san-antonio-asks-residents-to-conserve
...Follow along with ERCOT's supply and demand dashboard, showing a thin margin of error during Friday night football games tonight: https://www.ercot.com/gridmktinfo/dashboards/supplyanddemand
...While space telescope data may finger Permian methane emissions as a major contributor to this horribly hot summer: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Permian-Methane-Flares-Could-Be-Linked-to-Texas-Heatwave.html
Conservative activists are putting huge pressure on GOP Senators to stick with Ken Paxton during the upcoming impeachment trial: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/24/texas-senators-ken-paxton-trial/
...While none other that former Texas Governor Rick Perry laments his party's recent lawlessness: https://www.wsj.com/articles/ken-paxton-and-the-texas-constitution-ag-rule-of-law-impeachment-4da7792c
Denton joins in support of Houston's lawsuit against the new Death Star law: https://www.keranews.org/government/2023-08-24/denton-joins-arlington-plano-waco-in-opposing-texas-death-star-bill-calling-it-unconstitutional
A Granbury school board trustee is censured for sneaking into a high school library to inspect books in the dark: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/08/25/granbury-texas-trustee-censure-library/
...While a San Antonio parent successully faces down a Judson ISD campus for requiring NDA signatures to enter the building: https://nypost.com/2023/08/24/texas-school-tried-to-force-mom-to-sign-nda-to-get-on-campus/
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and our SUMMER MEMBERSHIP DRIVE at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A Trump-appointed judge in Victoria will hear arguments over the Biden administration's humanitarian parole program, starting today: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/biden-immigration-policy-giving-temporary-legal-status-thousands-faces-rcna101383
Whistleblowers at Texas Health and Human Services allege errors and bad management have led to thousands of pregnant Texans and children losing Medicaid health coverage: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/help-us-state-employees-blow-whistle-on-errors-they-say-are-kicking-thousands-off-medicaid/
Prager U's backfiring announcement of Texas approval develops - they now say their nonsensical garbage is an "option" for Texas schools: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/texas-schools-prageru-18325731.php
...While San Antonio ISD becomes the latest district to claim exemption from the new SRO law, citing funding and staffing limitations: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/san-antonio-isd-exemption-texas-law-18324841.php
...And a new school chaplain law is pooh-poohed by...wait for it...a group of chaplains: https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2023/08/23/texas-school-chaplains-letter/
...And a throwback to the pandemic as an entire Texas school district shuts down over COVID cases: https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2023/08/23/school-district-in-south-texas-temporarily-closes-due-to-uptick-in-covid-19-cases/
Good environmental news as battery storage is credited for keeping the Texas power grid stable this summer: https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2023/08/22/batteries-keep-texas-grid-humming-in-heat-waves-00112136
...But bad environmental news as a hotly-contested lignite coal mining operation's expansion plans are approved by state regulators: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/23082023/texas-mine-expansion-water-worries/
Thanks for listening! Please consider helping Progress Texas continue our important work - learn how to join the fun at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texas journalists seeking access to an encrypted e-mail account owned by Attorney General Ken Paxton are denied by his office, claiming "attorney-client privilege": https://twitter.com/lmcgaughy/status/1694031900988317710?t=w1jWJMjxUIoAEmVUHthoQA&s=03
A federal judge in Austin rejects Governor Abbott's claims of an "invasion" at the border with Mexico: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/08/22/federal-judge-rejects-texas-migrant-invasion-defense-in-doj-lawsuit-over-border-buoys/
...While the Texas Supreme Court rules that a state law abolishing Harris County's elections administrator will be allowed to take effect on Sept. 1: https://abc13.com/senate-bill-1750-harris-county-politics-houston-elections-area-politicians/13685768/
Prager U CEO and wackjob Texas State Board of Education member announce that Texas has approved the use of right-wing propaganda in Texas public school classrooms: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/prageru-among-educational-lesson-plans-allowed-in-texas-schools-under-new-law/
...While TEA and SBOE scratch heads in confusion, claiming no such approval has been granted: https://abc13.com/prageru-kids-slavery-video-educational-videos-for-controversial-material-texas-education/13687315/A Lewisville ISD backtracks on policy after harshly punishing an 8th grader for talking to friends about fears of a shooting threat: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2023/08/10/student-discipline-oversight-bolstered-in-lewisville-isd-after-teens-punishment/
...While Houston ISD's new state-appointed superintendent backtracks on cutting recess for elementary school kids: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/hisd-s-mike-miles-increases-recess-nes-schools-18310918.php
The Texas power grid gets a mixed report card from a state watchdog: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/infrastructure/ercot/2023/08/18/459988/texas-power-grid-has-held-up-well-for-summer-but-still-inefficient-energy-experts-say/
And, an important read on Texas' new "Death Star" law, set to take effect next Friday, and what it means for our city governments: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/08/greg-abbott-texas-attacks-austin-with-death-star.html
Thanks for listening, and for supporting Progress Texas! Join the fun at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Biden administration and the government of Mexico face off against Texas in federal court today over Governor Abbott's buoys barrier: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/judge-texas-oversize-buoy-barrier-us-mexico-river-102442113
...While a ninth busload of migrants, including 16 children, are sent by Texas into the path of Tropical Storm Hilary: https://abc7.com/los-angeles-migrants-texas-tropical-storm-hilary/13683042/
A growing number of Texans are aware of the charges against Ken Paxton and support his impeachment: https://abc13.com/why-ken-paxton-impeached-impeachment-trial-texas-voters-attorney-general-legal-issues/13680969/
...While Paxton attorney Tony Buzbee has decided he wants to serve on the Houston City Council: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/21/tony-buzbee-houston-city-council-paxton/
A special session on education looms - a House committee has reported its recommendations, which are likely to be ignored by GOP lawmakers: https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/south-texas-el-paso/politics/2023/08/21/texas-house-members-gear-up-for-expected-education-focused-special-session
ERCOT has issued a "weather watch", anticipating high heat and low reserves starting tomorrow: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/ercot-issues-weather-watch-for-texas/
...While U.S. House Democrats call for an investigation into deadly heat in Texas prisons: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/21/texas-prison-heat-deaths/
And, South Texas is set for a brief break from hot, dry Texas conditions, but there is a storm to endure: https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/video/first-look-at-harolds-wind-and-rain-in-texas
Thanks for listening! Please help Progress Texas continue our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
A Second Amendment group is waging a legal battle to allow the sale of a gun modification device that enables machine gun-style rapid fire: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/forced-reset-triggers-illegal-machine-guns-atf-gun-102402318
A former judge who donated to a recent Ken Paxton opponent declines an invitation to participate in the upcoming impeachment trial: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/19/dan-patrick-marc-brown-paxton-impeachment-adviser-counsel/
U.S. Senate hopeful Colin Allred reports from a week-long listening tour of Texas: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/democrat-colin-allred-travels-texas-listening-tour-us-senate-campaign/287-52952df5-eea1-4ea9-a310-6aab87c09c33
GOP governors from a bunch of flyover states will join Governor Greg Abbott at the border today for a press conference about....something: https://www.keloland.com/news/local-news/governor-kristi-noem-to-join-other-republican-governors-at-texas-border/
New HISD superintendent subjects teacher and students to a musical play about...himself: https://www.texasobserver.org/houston-isd-takeover-the-musical/
Our new heroes, The Ru-Publicans, are on a quest to buy a billboard in Austin mocking our state's new drag show ban: https://www.texasobserver.org/houston-isd-takeover-the-musical/
Texas A&M University Police say they will no longer make small-possession pot busts: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/texas-a-m-marijuana-18303293.php
...While a cannabis decriminalization push gets going in Lubbock - proving that conservatives enjoy a tasty buzz too: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/activists-in-another-texas-city-kick-off-effort-to-decriminalize-marijuana-with-signature-gathering-underway-in-lubbock/
A scary piece on scary televangelist Kenneth Copeland and the "Prosperity Gospel" movement in Texas: https://www.texasobserver.org/these-christians-think-god-needs-you-rich-and-to-rule-the-world/
ERCOT implores Texans to cut back the AC for a second time in four days: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/20/texas-ercot-conservation-request/
...While an all-too-brief rain spell and temperature drop appears to be headed for South Texas on Tuesday: https://www.ksat.com/weather/2023/08/16/tropical-wave-expected-in-the-gulf-of-mexico-next-week-heres-what-were-monitoring/
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this Friday morning at Progress Texas:
Parts of SB-1, the 2021 GOP voter suppression law, have been struck down by a federal judge: https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/federal-judge-strikes-down-portions-of-texas-voter-suppression-law-s-b-1/
ERCOT pleads for conservation, but keeps the AC on - while energy prices spike 6,000%: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/ercot-issues-voluntary-power-conservation-call-texas-heat-wave-2023-08-17/
Tesla stock price continues to slide despite Texas requiring its tech to be used in new charging stations: https://www.barrons.com/amp/articles/tesla-stock-ev-charging-texas-9555ff9
...While state lawmakers gouge electric vehicle owners with "punitive" fees: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/17/punitive-texas-other-states-roadblocks-ev-transition-00110125
Biden administration brushes off Abbott hysteria about an "invasion" at the border: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/08/17/doj-scoffs-at-texas-invasion-defense-says-buoys-violate-treaty-of-guadalupe-hidalgo/
...While an eighth busload of mostly Venezuelan migrants arrives in Los Angeles, sent there from Brownsville: https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/texas-sends-eighth-bus-with-migrants-to-los-angeles/3208012/
Terrific Andrea Grimes op-ed on the hypocrisy of "pro-life" Texas: https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/amp/rcna100475
And, Progress Texas is hiring! https://t.co/2kwlpEQGRp
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can help us continue our mission at https://progresstexas.org/.
We've been fans of Liz Hanks, the Texas Chapter Lead for Moms Demand Action, for a long time - so, we're elated but not surprised that she's been chosen to receive that fine organization's Sue Brooks Award, honoring her as the top of 51 state leaders (including Washington, D.C.)! We invited Liz to talk about the award, the significance of it coming to Texas, what Moms Demand Action has accomplished, and the challenges it, and all of us face moving forward.
Links discussed today: https://gunsensevoter.org/, https://www.thetrace.org/, and learn more about Moms Demand Action at https://momsdemandaction.org/. Liz invites you to text READY to 64433 to join the effort, and to download the Moms Demand Action app.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can help us continue our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texas House impeachment managers respond to Paxton attempts to dismiss with more tawdry details: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/16/ken-paxton-impeachment-evidence-senate/
A ruling to limit the use of a safe and effective abortion medication has mostly been reversed - same judge will preside over upcoming Planned Parenthood lawsuit: https://arstechnica.com/health/2023/08/appeals-court-rules-on-abortion-pill-case-but-it-changes-nothing-for-now/
U.S. Rep Greg Casar fights for federal solution as mandated water breaks for outdoor workers in Texas are set to end Sept. 1: https://www.npr.org/2023/08/16/1194279276/texas-workers-are-speaking-up-before-the-ban-on-guaranteed-water-breaks-starts
A Texas woman is arrested after phoning in a death threat against a judge overseeing one of Donald Trump's several indictments: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/08/17/texas-woman-arrested-abigail-shry-threaten-judge/
Not surprising - but Texas teachers are leaving the profession in droves as lawmakers ignore obvious solutions: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/report-many-texas-teachers-are-underqualified-and-leave-within-five-year/3318297/
As the worst days of the heat wave approaches, economists estimate over $9B in losses to Texas businesses due to the heat: https://abc13.com/houston-economy-heat-impact-on-business-texas-landscaping/13658579/
...While Franklin County residents fight AGAINST the development of solar farms: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/16/texas-solar-farm-ban-counties-attorney-general/
Since our restaurants need business, pick one from Yelp's Top 100 Restaurants in Texas List and go to town: https://www.yelp.com/collection/vDbu1mpLEKomVmXmXNWG0Q/Top-100-Places-to-Eat-in-Texas-2023
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can join the fun here: https://progresstexas.org/
A closer look at the Planned Parenthood lawsuit shows that an anonymous whistleblower working with Ken Paxton stands to take home 20% of any judgement: https://www.forbes.com/sites/darreonnadavis/2023/08/15/what-to-know-about-texas-lawsuit-that-could-cost-planned-parenthood-18-billion/?sh=67fec23f4ae3
...And that Amarillo, where the case is being heard, itself has no Planned Parenthood clinics: https://apnews.com/article/planned-parenthood-texas-medicaid-6c016b80c0cf76e3b8f9577ad6ea8e69
A lawsuit to block Texas' ban on care for transgender youth has its first day in court: https://www.kut.org/health/2023-08-15/lawsuit-to-block-texas-ban-on-care-for-transgender-youth-has-its-first-day-in-court
...While a school board meeting in deep East Texas over a trans elementary school teacher goes as one might expect: https://www.12newsnow.com/article/news/local/teacher-gender-controversy-divides-kirbyville/502-5d6a01e8-4b5b-40f5-a43d-b4ac2e23444b
On the Border: whoda thunk that Greg Abbott would put his deadly border barrier up on the Mexican side? https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-floating-border-barrier-technically-in-mexico-survey-finds/
...While Operation Lone Star-related high-speed DPS chases and crashes are WAY up in El Paso: https://www.ktep.org/ktep-news/2023-08-14/operation-lone-star-leads-to-more-dps-troopers-in-high-speed-pursuits-resulting-in-collisions-in-el-paso
...and Hispanic U.S. Congressmen rally the Biden Administration to stop the separation of migrant fathers from their families: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/hispanic-democrats-send-letter-urging-biden-administration-to-investigate-texas-separation-of-migrant-fathers
A new state law interfering in Harris County elections is found unconstitutional - and is immediately appealed: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/judge-calls-new-texas-election-law-unconstitutional-state-102296644
A recent Miss Texas winner is running for the Texas House: https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/miss-texas-house-campaign-18296949.php
Dallas attorney Sidney Powell is up on RICO charges in Georgia - but continues hawking her merch: https://www.businessinsider.com/sidney-powell-indictment-georgia-election-conspiracy-theories-defiant-2023-8
Illinois carpetbagger and unconvicted double murderer Kyle Rittenhouse has a new gun-nut org based in Texas: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/16/kyle-rittenhouse-texas-foundation/
And there's a fundraiser this weekend for victims of the wildfires in Maui in Bedford: https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/native-hawaiians-north-texas-fundraiser-maui-residents-hawaii-wildfires/
Thanks as always for listening! Learn more about what we do at Progress Texas and how you can help at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Texas launches a lawsuit designed to destroy Planned Parenthood: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/texas-planned-parenthood-repay-millions-dollars-102273480
Women forced to carry medically hopeless pregnancies to term under SB-8 continue to tell their stories: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/texas-abortion-plaintiff-hopes-daughters-death-can-ultimately-help-others/3316090/
The Biden Administration calls on U.S. Supreme Court to take up controversial Texas social media law: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/08/14/biden-supreme-court-social-media-texas-florida/
TCEQ sues Shell (for a pittance) over fire at its Deer Park facility: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/environment/article/shell-fire-lawsuit-texas-environment-18294678.php
Christian Nationalist darling Matt Schaefer will not run for re-election to the Texas House - but is eyeballing a Senate seat: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/environment/article/shell-fire-lawsuit-texas-environment-18294678.php
Brad Pascale, digital disinformation master for Donald Trump, has returned to his native Texas: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/san-antonio-tech-bro-turned-trump-insider-brad-parscale-has-moved-back-to-texas-32408210
Illinois Superintendent of Education makes a strong pitch for Texas teachers to head north: https://www.the74million.org/article/open-invitation-to-florida-and-texas-teachers-come-to-illinois-we-trust-you/
Thanks for listening! Find out more about Progress Texas, what we do, and how you can join in at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
As a migrant child dies on a Greg Abbott bus to Chicago, California Governor Gavin Newsom calls our Governor's care for human life "absolutely appalling": https://www.ktvu.com/news/newsom-calls-out-texas-gov-after-3-year-old-migrant-dies-on-bus-to-chicago
Also appalling - someone is stealing water barrels intended to save the lives of migrants in the Texas desert: https://www.npr.org/2023/08/12/1193621286/texas-migrants-drinking-water-barrels-disappeared
Texas AG's office reverses itself on status of unborn fetuses - are they people, or not? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/12/texas-fetus-rights-prison-guard-lawsuit-abortion
Austin attorney Mindy Montford - a Democrat - will play a role in the Ken Paxton impeachment trial: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2023/08/14/texas-impeachment-austin-lawyer-could-be-key-witness-in-paxton-trial/70570511007/
Dallas attorney Sidney Powell - definitely not a Democrat - is thought likely to be the target of impending criminal charges in the Trump investigation: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/donald-trump-jack-smith-sidney-powell-indictment-1234804906/
The EPA trashes Texas coal cleanup as "do-nothing policy", demands drastic reduction of emissions that are affecting national parks: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/13082023/epa-texas-disagree-haze-rules-national-parks/
And here we go again: COVID-related hospitalizations are spiking in Texas, just as the kids go back to school: https://www.ktsm.com/news/texas-covid-hospitalizations-jump-again-maps-show-where-its-worst/
Thanks as always for listening! Find our more about Progress Texas and how you can join the fun at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Operation Lone Star claims Noah's Ark as their excuse to place deadly barriers in the Rio Grande: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/border-buoys-noahs-ark-18289332.php
Chip Roy leads charge to defund the Border Patrol: https://www.politico.com/minutes/congress/08-10-2023/roy-approps-demands/
Federal grand jury calls witnesses connected to Ken Paxton: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/10/ken-paxton-grand-jury/
As predicted, DPS officers patrolling Austin are targeting Black and Latino Texans: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/10/texas-austin-dps-state-troopers-police-communities-color/
Texas public schools, soon required by law to post armed guards, can't find or afford to hire them: https://www.expressnews.com/news/education/article/school-security-new-law-hb3-18285762.php
Texas judge says outcome of Harris County election challenges by GOP will take time to complete: https://news.yahoo.com/texas-judge-says-no-quick-211601128.html
Yet another all-time ERCOT power demand record yesterday (the third just this week): https://www.reuters.com/world/us/texas-power-use-hits-record-third-time-this-week-amid-heat-wave-2023-08-10/
...While extreme heat can mess you up faster than you think: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/08/10/well/live/heat-body-dehydration-health.html
Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! Learn more about Progress Texas, including how you can support our ongoing and important work, at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following today at Progress Texas:
The McCombs Business School at UT Austin has been hosting a radical white supremacist scholar: https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2023-08-09/new-report-reveals-ut-austin-scholar-wrote-for-white-supremacist-publications/
Houston City Council invites 2028 Republican National Convention to town in near-unanimous vote: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/houston-republican-convention-city-council-votes-18287278.php
Yet another record single-day energy demand met by ERCOT yesterday, made possible by renewable energy providers: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/texas-power-use-hits-record-again-amid-heat-wave-2023-08-09/
Democratic lawmakers press USPS on hot weather care for its letter carriers: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/08/09/texas-congressmen-push-usps-to-give-mail-carriers-bottled-water-breaks-from-extreme-heat/
Texas wildfire danger reaches its second-to-highest risk level: https://www.kvue.com/article/weather/texas-drought/wildfire-preparedness-level-texas/269-94ec2f71-b237-4f96-a932-67dbcbe9227f
...While Texas actually remains behind wildfire stats for mid-August (knocks on wood): https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/09/texas-wildfires-2023-heat-wave/
Texas Republicans estimate a 0.1% chance of a conviction in Ken Paxton impeachment trial: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/ken-paxton-trial-senate-conviction-chances/
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how YOU can join the fun at https://progresstexas.org/.
During the 2022 election, Mothers Against Greg Abbott grabbed the attention of voters across Texas with their eye-popping and sometimes heartbreaking video content directed at pushing forward progressive candidates. As a new election looms with the stakes even higher, we've invited founder Nancy Thompson to join us to share her story of activism, her thoughts on our best strategies for 2024, and what her terrific organization has in store.
Enjoy the terrific content of Mothers Against Greg Abbott at https://www.youtube.com/@mothersagainstgregabbott/videos, and learn more about their work at https://mothersagainstgregabbott.com/.
As always, we appreciate your attention and support! Learn more about our ongoing mission, and how YOU can be part of it, at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Orange river buoys deployed by Governor Abbott and Operation Lone Star are modified with razor-sharp circular saw blades: https://theweek.com/greg-abbott/1025651/circular-saw-blades-divide-controversial-rio-grande-buoys-installed-by-texas
Texas officials at the border have defied warnings about breaking international and Federal law for months: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/08/08/docs-show-rio-grande-agency-warned-texas-for-months-on-border-buoys-before-turning-to-doj/
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro isn't buying DPS claims of "working well" with U.S. Border Patrol: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/border-eagle-pass-democrats-18284715.php
A Texas A&M professor says all this cruelty at the border won't work anyway: https://theeagle.com/opinion/column/abbotts-barrels-wire-fences-wont-work/article_d9a953be-34c3-11ee-ab39-17dc6a41f352.html
Texas gets another national black eye, this time from Rolling Stone: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/texas-abortion-bounty-law-ruling-1234802301
Texas abortion ban, lifted for a few hours last week, now heads on appeal to the Texas Supreme Court: https://www.npr.org/2023/08/08/1192750247/what-just-happened-when-texas-abortion-bans-briefly-lifted-and-what-comes-next
Watch Ted Cruz squirm as he explains voting against a wave of funding for Dallas-area microchip manufacturing: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/politics/texas-politics/sen-ted-cruz-explains-vote-against-chips-act-after-tour-of-dallas-county-inland-port/3312776/
Patriot Front finds itself on opposing ends of two lawsuits: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/courts/2023/08/08/texas-extremist-group-patriot-front-sued-over-boston-attack-of-black-man/
Texas judge orders Southwest Airlines lawyers to undergo training...by an extremist hate group: https://newrepublic.com/post/174906/texas-judge-orders-airline-lawyers-take-training-far-right-hate-group-adf
A climate change-related migration OUT of Texas may be on the horizon: https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/heat-climate-change-migration-texas-south-southwest/
Before you flee, plant a tree! Free fruit trees offered in San Antonio this weekend: https://www.mysanantonio.com/lifestyle/outdoors/article/free-trees-san-antonio-parks-18285502.php
Thanks for your support! Learn more about Progress Texas at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we covered on our FIRST Progress Texas Daily Dispatch:
Gerrymandering trial starts in packed Galveston courtroom: https://www.galvnews.com/news/gerrymandering-trial-starts-in-packed-galveston-courtroom/article_f86c3afd-c325-5b95-829b-3aed69ab7452.html
Gov. Abbott holds ceremonial signing for law restricting trans athletes in the name of supporting women's sports: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas/gov-abbott-holds-ceremonial-signing-for-law-restricting-transgender-athlete-participation-womens-sports/287-e18f29db-322c-4c7d-a5a4-3e331d90bb1b
...While Trump trashes U.S. Women's National Soccer Team: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/07/trump-us-womens-soccer-team-00110074
Both Cruz and Cornyn voted to confirm "Far Left" judge Trump wants removed from Jan. 6 trial In 2014: https://www.businessinsider.com/which-republican-senators-voted-tanya-chutkan-judge-trump-january-6-2023-8
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo bravely goes public about seeking mental health care: https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2023/08/07/harris-county-judge-lina-hidalgo-taking-leave-of-absence-to-receive-treatment-for-clinical-depression/
Ken Paxton's lawyers, unsatisfied with 19 of 20, now want ALL impeachment articles thrown out ahead of trial: https://www.axios.com/2023/08/08/ken-paxton-impeachment-dismissed-effort
And this horrible Texas heat may be having horrible impacts on your mental health: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/heat-impact-mental-health/285-cbea6a81-f966-4b7c-86b4-dc22c1c675f0
Learn more about President Biden's new 988 suicide prevention chat and hotline: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-biden-administration-rolls-out-new-988-suicide-and-crisis-hotline
Thanks for listening! Find out more about Progress Texas and our ongoing mission at https://progresstexas.org/.
A pair of scandals involving political meddling by conservatives at Texas A&M have rocked academia across the state recently - an esteemed journalism professor whose hiring was publicly celebrated found her arrangement with A&M curtailed following input from powerful Aggieland conservatives, and an adjunct professor who had dared to point out that state policies regarding fentanyl testing are exacerbating the death toll in Texas found herself in the crosshairs of none other than Lt. Governor Dan Patrick - nearly losing her job.
New laws regarding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies at Texas' institutions of higher learning have hit the ground fast in College Station. Should collegiate faculty across Texas now be worried about keeping their gigs - or even seeking them in such an environment to begin with? To help us understand what's at stake and what to expect next, we've invited Pat Heintzelman, President of the Texas Faculty Association, and Alex Morey, Director of Campus Rights Advocacy for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression or FIRE to join us.
Learn more about the TFA at https://www.texasfacultyassociation.org/, and about FIRE at https://www.thefire.org/.
And as always, THANKS for your support! Please consider helping us continue to expand our mission for progress in Texas at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
The scene in Texas on the eve of crucial 2024 elections: defiance of Federal elections law in Galveston County. The inexplicable dumping of a solid national voter roll verification system. The monkey-wrenching of election procedures in Texas' largest county. Contradictory and confusing laws surrounding behavior at polling locations - some carrying felony-level penalties. Sensing imminent irrelevance, the Texas GOP has launched a full assault on the elections process in the Lone Star State - and we can't counter this attack unless we fully understand it. With that as our goal, we've invited two Texans in prime position to lead the fight for voting rights and election integrity in Texas: Jenna Royal is the new Voter Protection Director for the Texas Democratic Party, and Louis Bedford is a Dallas-based attorney with extensive experience in elections justice, having worked with both the Texas Civil Rights Project and the Dallas County Democratic Party on voter protection programs.
WE NEED PROGRESSIVE POLL WATCHERS. If you've wondered how YOU can stand up to bullying from the right, this is a perfect opportunity. Learn more: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSedHuGsvh9bXsTWuxs623SaWODLGW8wGcC_EdsXBSwBYhIODg/viewform?usp=send_form
Thanks as always for listening - as these crucial elections approach, our work at Progress Texas is more important than ever. Please consider supporting our work at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
The entire nation has been shocked by the news of whistleblower allegations of cruel and inhumane treatment of migrants at the Texas border on the orders of Texas DPS commanders aligned with Governor Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star program. Both Texas State Senator (and U.S. Senate candidate) Roland Gutierrez and Progress Texas Executive Director Kathleen Thompson are in Washington D.C. on the invitation of the Biden Administration, but both took time out of that busy trip to discuss the horrific stories coming from our border with Mexico, and what we can do to bring this sad chapter in our state's history to a close.
Learn more about Senator Gutierrez's campaign to send Ted Cruz packing at https://rolandfortexas.com/.
It's times like these that rapid responses to Republican outrage are most needed in Texas. Please help support Progress Texas in our continued efforts: https://progresstexas.org/donate.
With so much bad news surrounding the Texas Legislature, we think it's important to celebrate the good news when it comes - and from the otherwise-lamentable 88th Session came the overwhelming, bipartisan success of the CROWN Act, which was signed into law and takes effect on September 1, outlawing discrimination based upon ethnic and cultural hairstyles in Texas.
When we celebrate these rare successes, it's important to learn as much as we can about how they were achieved - so we're proud to welcome the CROWN Act's primary author, Texas State Representative Rhetta Bowers, to give us the story of how it was accomplished, and what relevant strategies and tactics Texas Democrats might be able to carry forward to future success.
Learn more about Representative Bowers at https://house.texas.gov/members/member-page/?district=113.
As always, we can't do what we do without your support! Please consider joining our effort at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
We love nothing more than occasions to gather in person with our fellow progressives and raise a little hell - and that's exactly what we did at our brand new HQ in the Deep Ellum section of downtown Dallas a few days back. Proud to welcome back to the podcast Texas State Representative Venton Jones (as Kathleen loves to point out, HER State Rep) and brand new chair of the Dallas County Democratic Party, Kardal Coleman. A great discussion of what's now behind us, as well as the crucial work that lies ahead. THANKS to those of you who attended and stay tuned for more live events in D/FW, Austin and beyond.
Find State Representative Jones at https://house.texas.gov/members/member-page/?district=100, and Kardal Coleman and the Dallas Dems at https://www.dallasdemocrats.org/.
And as always, if you're loving the podcast - we could use your help in our efforts! Please consider joining the fight at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
If there was one silver lining in the dark clouds hovering over the U.S. Supreme Court last week, it was the ruling that requires Alabama to redraw electoral maps, finding likelihood that they were drawn to dilute Black voting power in that state. By popular demand, we've convened with Common Cause's Texas Voting Rights Program Manager Katya Ehresman to walk us through that organization's ongoing work for redistricting justice and describe what to expect on the path ahead nationally, including here in Texas.
Learn more about Common Cause Texas at https://www.commoncause.org/texas/., and follow Katya Ehresman on Twitter at https://twitter.com/EhresmanKatya.
Find the hilarious (and frustrating) Twitter thread referenced in this episode comparing gerrymandered districts to Pokemon characters at https://twitter.com/MEPFuller/status/1354904383708934153?s=20.
And, if you're digging the podcast, please consider supporting our efforts to make more! Join the fight at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
This last Friday, we joined our friends at Unified for their June monthly meetup, which served as a wrap and summary of Pride Month 2023 with two of Texas' most prominent LGBTQ activists: Adri Perez of the Texas Freedom Network and Pamela Williamson-Wylie of the Human Rights Campaign. This taping happened to come within hours of the announcment of the SCOTUS 303 Creative decision - proof positive that this fight is by no means over.
Learn more about Unified at https://www.joinunified.us/.
Learn more about the Texas Freedom Network at https://tfn.org/.
Learn more about the Human Rights Campaign at https://www.hrc.org/.
And, if you're enjoying our podcast, please consider supporting our work with a donation! Go to https://progresstexas.org/donate.
The second of our two podcast episodes marking the first year beyond the fall of Roe v Wade focuses on efforts in one of Texas' most politically and culturally important regions: the Rio Grande Valley. We're proud to welcome Cathy Torres, Organizing Manager of Frontera Fund, and Laura Terrill, CEO of Planned Parenthood South Texas, two terrific orgs dedicated to providing medical, financial and emotional support to RGV residents in need of reproductive care.
The Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline referenced in this episode is (833) 246-2632, and there's more on this important resource at https://www.mahotline.org/.
Learn more about Frontera Fund at https://fronterafundrgv.org/, and learn more about Planned Parenthood of South Texas at https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-south-texas.
Thanks as always for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how YOU can become part of our mission via your financial support at https://progresstexas.org/.
This is the first of two podcasts episodes marking one year since the Dobbs decision, by which the Trump-stacked United States Supreme Court wiped away decades of precedent with the Roe V Wade decision that guaranteed the Constitutional right to an abortion for all Americans. That year has seen the redoubling of efforts by abortion rights organizations across the country to regain those rights and more, including Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, who held a terrific live event last weekend at The Cathedral, a beautiful space in East Austin. This episode presents that event, featuring Wendy Davis, State Rep. Donna Howard and more - all standing firm in the fight for the freedom for ALL of us to maintain control over our bodies and our destinies. Watch for part two, a discussion with representatives of the Frontera Fund and Planned Parenthood of the Rio Grande Valley, for a closer look at what's happening on the abortion rights front in that very important part of Texas, in the next couple of days.
Learn more about Planned Parenthood Texas Votes at https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/planned-parenthood-texas-votes/leadership-team.
And, there's still time to support Progress Texas in our June membership drive! Learn more at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
The Asian American and Pacific Islander community are the fastest-growing ethnic group in the United States - but in Texas politics, they are ignored at best, and demonized at worst. Why have Republican lawmakers determined that AAPI Texans are a threat to be countered and dehumanized - and why have Democrats in Texas been so slow to fully embrace this rising political force? We had a fascinating conversation with Texas State Representative Gene Wu, who has represented a large part of Houston in the House for over a decade, and Lily Trieu, interim Executive Director of the political action org Asian Texans for Justice.
Find Representative Wu via his flame-throwing Twitter account at https://twitter.com/GeneforTexas.
Learn more about the great work Lily Trieu is doing alongside Asian Texans for Justice at https://www.asiantexansforjustice.org/.
And, if you're enjoying our podcast, please consider helping us to keep producing it by becoming part of the family! Find out more about our June membership drive at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
For only the third year, Juneteenth is officially observed across the nation as a Federal holiday this Monday, June 19 - thanks to the tireless work of Black historians and activists across Texas. We're proud to welcome this week one of the pre-eminent authorities on Juneteenth: Donald Payton is president of the African American Genealogy Interest Group, former Dallas County Historical Commissioner, and a member of the special state committee that originally elevated Juneteenth to state holiday status - “the unofficial historian of Black Dallas”. We also welcome as a special guest host Kardal Coleman, the freshly-elected Chair of the Dallas County Democratic Party and co-founder of the Liberation Fund, a national civil rights organization dedicated to providing legal representation to defendants in need.
Learn more about Donald Payton at https://blog.smu.edu/theanti-apartheidmovementinnorthtexas/biography/don-payton/, and follow Kardal Coleman at https://twitter.com/KardalColeman.
Thanks as always for listening - and please consider becoming part of the Progress Texas family by joining forces with us during our June membership drive! Learn more at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
The impeachment of long-indicted Attorney General Ken Paxton is being seen as a sort of consolation prize for Texas progressives, having been denied ANY meaningful political gains in the Republican-stacked legislature again this year - but how did we get here, what's really at stake, and what's likely to happen next? Our guests this week have had a front row seat for the Paxton soap opera for years: State Representative John Bryant of Dallas has just returned to service in the House and was present for the impeachment proceedings that eventually succeeded in sending the Paxton case to the Senate. And, Texas rock star attorney Justin Nelson - lately fresh off successfully suing Fox News on behalf of Dominion Voting Systems - ran a terrific campaign against Paxton for AG in 2018. We're also proud to welcome guest host Kendall Scudder to the conversation - Kendall is currently Vice Chair for Finance of the Texas Democratic Party, and is also a podcasting veteran as co-host of the beloved Pod Bless Texas podcast. There's a lot going on with the Paxton case, with potential implications for just about every member of the Legislature, and for politics across the entire state - join us and dig in.
Reach Rep. Bryant at https://house.texas.gov/members/member-page/?district=114, find Justin Nelson at https://www.susmangodfrey.com/attorneys/justin-a-nelson/, and follow Kendall Scudder's recent exploits on Twitter at https://twitter.com/kendallscudder.
And - please consider becoming a sustaining part of the Progress Texas family by joining us for our June membership drive! Learn more at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
After the wanton and seemingly inexhaustible ugliness directed towards the LGBTQ+ community during this year's legislative session, there's no better time for ALL Texans to express our solidarity than Pride Month, throughout the month of June. We're proud to welcome to the podcast James Poindexter, a public school teacher and board member of Pride San Antonio, for a look inside the planning process of this year's Pride events in Alamo City. Wherever in Texas you might be, make it a point to join the fun AND stand behind our brothers and sisters during Pride Month.
Learn more about Pride San Antonio at https://pridesanantonio.org/.
And - please accept our invitation to become part of the Progress Texas mission during our June membership drive! Learn more at https://progresstexas.org/donate.
NOTE - We recommend listener discretion for this episode, which contains graphic details of the crime scene at Robb Elementary in Uvalde.
As the grim first anniversary of the Robb Elementary massacre arrives, and the closing days of the Texas legislative session creep by, not only have GOP lawmakers stonewalled any opportunity to prevent future mass shootings, but the pace at which those shootings happen in Texas has escalated. While we rarely re-publish our podcast content, we thought it an opportune moment to give our conversation from April with Texas State Senator Roland Gutierrez a fresh listen. Senator Gutierrez continues his fight for the families of Uvalde and children across the Lone Star State - his battle has just begun, and the same is the case for all of us.
The first year mark for Uvalde is gaining national attention: https://www.npr.org/2023/05/24/1177872175/one-year-after-the-uvalde-school-shooting-questions-still-go-unanswered
More on Senator Roland Gutierrez's continued fight at the Capitol: https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/uvalde-shooting-year-later-roland-gutierrez-still-pushing-gun-reform/
And, please consider supporting Progress Texas and our ongoing mission with a donation: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/donate
Not only has Governor Greg Abbott declared what he calls "school choice" (in reality, the undermining of funding for Texas public schools) a top priority for the current Legislature, he and other Republican schemers have wrapped it an intricate web of deceptive marketing designed to distract Texans - especially rural Republicans - from their true intentions. We set the record straight this week with two esteemed Texas education experts: welcome back Patty Quinzi, Director of Public Affairs and Legislative Counsel for the Texas chapter of AFT - the American Federation of Teachers - AFL/CIO. And also Gwenn Burud, retired lifelong educator, educational sign language interpreter, and teacher of deaf and hard of hearing students, now, the executive director of Texans Defending Democracy. This is all happening NOW - making NOW the time to reach out to your representatives in Austin and share your thoughts.
Learn more about Texas AFT at https://www.texasaft.org/, and learn more about Texans Defending Democracy at https://www.texansdefendingdemocracy.com/.
Thanks for listening! Help Progress Texas continue our work by considering a donation: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/donate.
You may have heard that HB 2744, otherwise known as the Raise The Age Act, has become a true rarity - a measure based on sensible, basic gun ownership regulation in Texas that has been voted out of committee. It would raise the minimum purchasing age of certain semi-automatic firearms from the current age of 18, to 21. We've rushed this episode of the podcast to encourage YOU to do all you can to help sustain this rare opportunity. We're proudly joined by Nicole Golden, Executive Director of Texas Gun Sense, and Liz Hanks, Texas Chapter Lead for Moms Demand Action.
These are the Republican members of the House Calendars Committee, who are in control of the future of HB 2744. We encourage YOU to call their offices to express support of the Raise The Age Act.
Dustin Burrows (Chair) (512) 463-0542
Toni Rose (Vice Chair) 512-463-0664
David Cook 512-463-0374
Charlie Geren 512-463-0610
Cole Hefner 512-463-0271
Jared Patterson 512-463-0694
Shelby Slawson 512-463-0628
Ed Thompson 512-463-0707
In addition, please support the national action being promoted by Moms Demand Action by texting "FedUp" to 64433.
Learn more about Moms Demand Action at https://momsdemandaction.org/, and about Texas Gun Sense at https://www.txgunsense.org/.
As always, we appreciate your support - consider a donation to help us continue our work at https://act.progresstexas.org/a/donate.
After a month of the heightened presence of Texas Department of Public Safety troopers in Austin, centered primarily on parts of the city that are home to a large percentage of Austin's non-white communities, concerns and questions are rising - and in parallel, the violent crackdown on transgender rights activists at the Texas State Capitol this week by DPS troopers may further illuminate the reality of the situation. We welcome two guests very close to the story: Austin City Council Member Zo Qadri, who has had a front row seat at Austin City Hall while all of this has unfolded, and prominent Austin-area criminal defense attorney and longtime progressive political activist Rick Cofer, who interacts with both DPS and APD officers on a daily basis, both join us for an intensive analysis. How does DPS differ - in both goals and culture - from municipal or county-level law enforcement agencies? What exactly is DPS's mission and method in Austin? How was the decision at the top levels of the city's leadership to bring them in reached? And, what happens next: when, and how, can this uncomfortable partnership come to a peaceful close?
By the way, as you'll hear in our conversation, the May "Prop A vs Prop B" election in Austin is directly related to today's topic. If you're listening on release day (Saturday May 6) - PLEASE get out and vote TODAY! Learn more at GoVoteTexas.org. You have until 7pm!
On Twitter: find CM Zo Qadri at https://twitter.com/ZoForAustin, and Rick Cofer at https://twitter.com/rickcofer.
And, if you appreciate our work and would like to help us continue, please consider making a donation: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/donate.
A double-header this week! For our first segment, we're joined by famed Texas progressive political commentator and consultant Ed Espinoza - until just recently, president of Progress Texas - for a look into the recent recordings made public of Ted Cruz discussing the Republican plot to overturn the election of Joe Biden and keep Donald Trump in office. Not just the usual Cruz pinata party this time - we discuss solid steps YOU can take to prevent another term for the oiliest Congressman in America. Also, there's probably never been a better time to grab some fresh Humans Against Ted Cruz gear! Link below.
And for our second segment, a discussion of the recently-instituted and blatantly transphobic dress code at the Texas Department of Agriculture, under the leadership of one of the Texas GOP's most colorful clowns, Sid Miller. We're joined by the writer who broke the story, Texas Observer Digital Director and genderqueer movement journalist Kit O'Connell, and Texas Stonewall Democrats president Jeff Strater for a discussion of the harm this new policy not only brings to LGBTQ+ employees of this taxpayer-funded office, but also the possibility of similar policies developing under bad precedent.
Latest on the "Cruz Tapes": Ted Cruz Fox News tapes are being handed over to the Justice Department for its Jan. 6 inquiry https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/ted-cruz-fox-news-tapes-handed-justice-department-17922681.php
Humans Against Ted Cruz: wear it proud! https://humansagainsttedcruz.com/
Kit's terrific Texas Observer piece: https://www.texasobserver.org/sid-miller-department-agriculture-dress-code-transgender/
And a follow-up...Ag Commissioner Sid Miller Doubles Down On Transphobic Dress Code: https://www.texasobserver.org/sid-miller-dress-code-transphobia-texas-agriculture/
Follow Texas Stonewall Democrats here: http://www.stonewalldemocrats.us/texas
AND, if you're picking up what we're putting down, please consider supporting Progress Texas with a donation! https://act.progresstexas.org/a/donate
NOTE - We recommend listener discretion for this episode, which contains graphic details of the crime scene at Robb Elementary in Uvalde.
Senator Roland Gutierrez represents District 19 - a wide swath of South and West Texas, including Uvalde - and has been personally and continually immersed in the tragedy there since mere hours after the shooting began. Almost a year later, he's fighting to prevent future tragedies at the Capitol in Austin - and he's on the front lines against the heartless bulwark of gun-crazy conservatism that has taken our state government hostage. At this critical moment, as much as we'd all like to, we simply cannot look away from this horrifying problem. So, join us for a difficult but essential conversation with one of the true heroes of progressive Texas - we can't express how proud we are of Senator Roland Gutierrez.
From our Earth Day intro, the referenced video: https://twitter.com/ProgressTX/status/1648718142137352192?s=20
Follow Senator Gutierrez here: https://rolandfortexas.com/
Considering that we recorded our conversation on 4/20, please have a look at Senator Gutierrez's documentary on marijuana reform: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFg6KWIM_Wg&t=2020s
And, if you're a regular listener, please consider helping us continue the fight: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/donate
Efforts by Republican legislators at the Capitol to undermine the authority of local elected officials in our major cities - for the most part, Democrats - is not a new story. But this year, what has commonly been seen as right-wing bluster is threatening very real consequences for the larger municipalities of Texas. State trooper presence alongside local police departments in urban areas, takeovers of local independent school districts, and the recent threat by Governor Greg Abbott to pardon convicted murderer Daniel Perry, whose victim was a progressive BLM protester, all provide examples of real and unwelcome encroachment by conservative (and mostly rural) State lawmakers upon the internal affairs of Texas' largest cities. Joining us to discuss all of this are Democratic Texas State Senator and former Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt, and Dallas City Council Member Adam Bazaldua.
Find Senator Eckhardt at https://saraheckhardt.com/, and Council Member Bazaldua at https://www.bazaldua4dallas.com/.
As always, we appreciate your support! Please consider helping us continue all of the important work we do at Progress Texas by making a donation at https://act.progresstexas.org/a/donate.
Things move fast at the Texas Legislature - meaning, a lot of bad stuff can happen very quickly if advocates against the conservative agenda are not engaged - and environmental issues are certainly no exception. Joining us for a second episode this week is Luke Metzger, Executive Director for Environment Texas, with a rundown of the many issues and concerns at play, including new, nefarious trends in energy production in Texas, and an update on the upcoming Alliance For A Clean Texas Lobby Day, scheduled for the Texas State Capitol on Tuesday, April 11. Please plan to join us!
All about the Lobby Day, including your registration: https://actionnetwork.org/events/act-lobby-day
All about Environment Texas: https://environmentamerica.org/texas/
And - if you're a regular listener and would like to support us at Progress Texas (thank you!), go here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/donate
It's near certain that one of YOUR family members, friends, co-workers or fellow church members is a member of the LGBTQ+ community - and GOP lawmakers in the Legislature is in the middle of a truly historic assault on their rights, with absolutely no sign of relent or restraint. What can we do to fight back? It turns out, quite a lot. We're proud to welcome back our friend Ricardo Martinez, CEO of Equality Texas, for an update on what has become a multi-session, multi-faceted and ever-escalating onslaught on an entire group of our state's citizens - seemingly, simply for existing.
Since we spoke with Ricardo on Tuesday, the Texas Senate passed a bill that would ban transgender care for minors, without exception for those in the midst of the lengthy and sensitive process: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2023/04/04/texas-legislature-senate-passes-ban-transgender-gender-affirming-care-minors/70080903007/
Learn more about and support Equality Texas: https://www.equalitytexas.org/
And, if you're finding the information you learn about on our podcast helpful, inspiring, or perhaps infuriating, please consider supporting our continued work here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/donate
We've come a long way, baby! Hard to believe that we've made the 100 episode mark, and as we've said, we're also proud to say that over that time, we've grown the Progress Texas Happy Hour into one of the top 10% of all podcasts globally in listenership - which doesn't happen without YOU. And, we're also proud of the impact our organization has made since its founding - ample reason to invite two of our most esteemed alumni to look back in reflection, and to look forward in resolve. Founding board member Steve Adler was Mayor of Austin for two terms, concluding at the beginning of this year, and famed Texas political consultant James Aldrete was there from the beginning as well. Join us for a tour through the history and impact of Progress Texas, and an analysis of the job at hand as we move forward into Texas' progressive future.
Article on dismantling right-wing gun garbage: https://progresstexas.org/dismantling-5-right-wing-talking-points-guns
And, if you're picking up what we're putting down, we'd very much appreciate your support - as with the recent Texas Observer situation, our future depends very much on the support of our listeners and followers. THANK YOU for considering a donation: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/donate
We're in the midst of the 30th anniversary of one of the darkest moments in our state's recent history: the standoff at the Branch Davidian compount at Mount Carmel, just outside of Waco, which culminated in the deaths of dozens of men, women and children. This event captured the attention of the militant white supremacist movement then, and has served as a rallying cry for them ever since. Meanwhile, this weekend, former President Donald Trump is planning a rally at Waco in a blatant pledge of alignment with the paramilitary conspiracist fringe right, in an obvious move to rally them to his side. We've invited Lindsay Schubiner, Director of Programs for the Western States Center, to join us to recall the Branch Davidian tragedy, discuss its impact on the American right over the last 30 years, and ask the question: what are Donald Trump's real goals in connecting his campaign to Waco?
Learn more about the Western States Center here: https://www.westernstatescenter.org/
Learn more about the anniversary of the Mount Carmel event here: https://www.biography.com/crime/a43329362/the-siege-at-waco-firsthand-accounts
Thanks for listening to our podcast! If you enjoy what we're doing, we'd appreciate your support. Please make a donation here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/donate
We were proud to be invited to attend and roll tape on the second annual Unified Jam during SXSW in Austin, and this week's podcast includes portions of two of the day's panels. The first will be of interest to listeners who have considered jumping into the fray: "I Ran For Office - AMA", moderated by former Progress Texas Executive Director Ed Espinoza and featuring former Texas State House Representative and recent Austin Mayoral candidate Celia Israel, Austin City Council Members Paige Ellis and Zo Qadri, and recent Democratic candidate for Railroad Commissioner Luke Warford. The second updates the ongoing fight for reproductive justice in Texas: "Reclaiming Rights: Organizing in a Post-Roe World" was moderated by Cy White, managing editor of Austin Woman magazine and features former Texas State Senator, Deeds Not Words founder and current Planned Parenthood Texas Votes Senior Advisor Wendy Davis, Texas State Representative Donna Howard, former NARAL Pro-Choice America president and current Purpose president Ilyse Hogue, and Avow Executive Director Emily Martin. We had a great time, and hope you'll enjoy as well.
Learn more about Unified: https://www.joinunified.us/
Enjoying the podcast? Please consider supporting its future production with a donation: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/donate
The horror stories that were predicted by Texas Democrats - and ignored by Texas Republicans - have become reality. A growing number of Texas women have been left at death's doorstep as doctors in our state shy away from the threat of punishment for administering lifesaving medical care related to pregnancy. The first lawsuit representing plaintiffs who have been denied essential care due to Texas' cruel and vaguely-written new laws regarding abortion has been filed. Joining us this week to celebrate the brave plaintiffs, discuss the case, and evaluate what the future holds for the ongoing fight for reproductive freedom in Texas are former State Senator and abortion rights icon Wendy Davis - now Senior Advisor for Planned Parenthood Texas Votes - and Austin Kaplan, an Austin-based attorney and progressive activist, who is working on behalf of the plaintiffs. A heartbreaking listen this time, but one that needs to be heard - we cannot give up on the essential personal rights of Texans.
Watch the presser from the Texas State Capitol here: https://fb.watch/jaTIfZmVrV/
Learn more about Planned Parenthood Texas Votes' Lobby Day (Friday April 14) here: https://www.weareplannedparenthoodaction.org/a/lobby-day2023
Learn more about the Center for Reproductive Rights here: https://reproductiverights.org/maps/state/texas/
And if you're enjoying the podcast, please consider helping us continue to produce it here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/donate
If you're like us, you may not have believed your eyes when you first read of a new bill that seeks to ban voting locations on college campuses in Texas. HB-2390 was authored by Texas Rep. Carrie Isaac (who herself recently got her clock cleaned via massive turnout at Texas State University) and continues to be considered by the Republican-dominated House. Joining us for a tour of the dozens of reasons this is a terrible idea are three esteemed allies, all directly involved in the fight to protect voting rights in Texas: freshly-elected Travis County Clerk Dyana Limon-Mercado, MOVE Texas Advocacy Organizer Amber Mills, and Texas Civil Rights Project Senior Election Protection Attorney and Policy Counsel Emily Eby French - if you will, a bit of a voting rights super-group!
Learn more about:
The Travis County Clerk's Office: https://countyclerk.traviscountytx.gov/
MOVE Texas' Lege Agenda: getshitdoneagenda.com
Register for Texas Civil Rights Project Bill Tracking Updates: http://bit.ly/TCRPLege
Progress Texas' own voting info initiative, Go Vote Texas: https://govotetexas.org/
And, if you're enjoying our podcast, please help us keep producing it, ad-free with a donation (Thank You!): https://act.progresstexas.org/a/donate
We wanted to take a moment to tell our listeners a bit about ourselves as this year's Amplify Austin Day arrives! It's Central Texas' biggest day of giving for a wide variety of worthy charities and nonprofits. On this short bonus episode, we hope you'll take a moment to learn a bit more about what Progress Texas does and what your support helps accomplish (in short, a lot!). We're proud to be joined by Dick Lavine, a founding Progress Texas board member, who takes us through the early days and gives his viewpoint on why Progress Texas is worthy of a donation on this Amplify Austin Day, which begins at 6pm TODAY (Wednesday March 1) and continues through 6pm on March 2.
Direct link to our Amplify Austin page: https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute
Thanks for your support!
The Republican assault on the reproductive rights of Texans continues, with a lawsuit in Federal court in Amarillo poised to strike a blow against medication abortion access not only here in the Lone Star State, but across the entire country. Meanwhile, the current legislative session, thus far, indicates no relief in sight - but we're joined this week by representatives of two Texas advocacy organizations who continue to give us hope. Delma Catalina Limones is Communications Director for AVOW, and Eleanor Grano is Director of Advocacy and Partnerships for Jane's Due Process.
Latest as of this posting on the mifepristone court case: https://gothamist.com/news/abortion-medication-mifepristone-ny-threatened-texas-court-what-case-could-mean-for-your-access
Article by Chase Strangio on the connection between abortion rights and trans rights: https://hammerandhope.org/article/issue-1-article-10
Article on the dangerous spread of abortion misinformation via social media platforms amongst LatinX communities: https://www.axios.com/2022/08/30/latinos-abortion-misinformation-roe-maternal-health
Thanks as always for supporting Progress Texas! If you'd like to make a contribution, please click here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/donate
The filing deadline for Texas' May elections is coming up at the end of the day this Friday, February 17 - and this episode is directed at Texas progressives who have considered running for local office but have hesitated, thinking the fight in a "red state" will be too difficult. Using as an onramp recent controversies involving the current Mayor of the otherwise-sleepy D/FW suburb of Colleyville, investigative journalist Steven Monacelli guides us through a deep dive into how troubled George Santos-style MAGA candidates, emboldened by right-wing funding, have pressed forward a takeover of small Texas cities at the school board level - and why potential progressive candidates like you, simply by embracing common Texan and American values (which, as we've said, are progressive values) would likely stand a good chance of undermining the ongoing MAGA agenda. Thanks as always for supporting Progress Texas!
Follow Steven Monacelli's work: https://linktr.ee/Stevanzetti
Find out more about running for office in Texas: https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/candidates/guide/2022/local.shtml
And, if you're enjoying the Progress Texas Happy Hour, please consider supporting our efforts: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/donate
In the second of two episodes focused on police reform in Texas, we're glad to meet and get to know Jalen McKee-Rodriguez of the San Antonio City Council, who happens to hold the historic distinction of being the first Black and openly-LGBTQ elected official in Texas! Not only does he share his views on police reforms and police unions, but also his unique take on being an elected official - how his background as a high school math teacher brings new perspective and benefits to the job, but also some of the darker aspects of holding public office that don't frequently get discussed. We think his future in Texas politics is very promising.
Thanks for your support of Progress Texas! If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to help us keep it ad-free, please consider making a donation here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/donate
The nation, once again, reels in the aftermath of an unjustified and tragic young Black death at the hands of law enforcement in the case of Tyre Nichols. Over two episodes, Progress Texas seeks to learn: what's the status of police reform in Texas, and nationwide? What are the factors that lead to what seems to be an ever-escalating epidemic of lethal police violence against unarmed Black citizens? And - most importantly - what can WE do to end this disgraceful trend? In the first part of a two-part conversation on this pivotal topic, we welcome John Fullinwider of Dallas-based Mothers Against Police Brutality, who brings us perhaps our most sobering view yet on a national plague that against all reason - and in spite of repeated national protest - appears to be steadily increasing.
Thanks for listening, and for supporting Progress Texas.
What will become of the historic surplus currently at the fingertips of the Texas Legislature? Given the state of public education, you'd think a big spend on our schools and students would be a no-brainer - but after all, we're talking about the Texas GOP here. We talk education and more this week with a pair of young Democratic officeholders: Jeff Casper of the Mesquite City Council (a high school government teacher himself), and Venton Jones, freshman Representative for storied District 100 of Dallas, who both express support for new legislation introduced by Representative James Talarico that would earmark a large portion of the surplus for our public schools.
Make a donation to Progress Texas HERE. Thanks for your support!
And, see the Texas Observer for a headline that will make your head spin - and then, consider running for office yourself!
Our first episode of the year features two Texans we plan to follow closely as the Texas Legislature begins another session. First, Tarrant County's State Representative Salman Bhojani, who alongside freshman Rep. Suleman Lalani of Fort Bend County is one of the two first Muslim and South Asian lawmakers in state history! And Nicole Golden, Executive Director of Texas Gun Sense joins us with details on her organization's strategy to keep the pressure on legislators to enact common sense laws in regard to gun safety. Buckle up, y'all - the session has just begun. Thanks as always for your support of Progress Texas!
Learn more about how to advocate during the 2023 Lege: https://progresstexas.org/advocating-2023-texas-legislature
Thinking about running for office yourself? We encourage you! Learn more here: https://progresstexas.org/blog/new-year-new-movements-making-progress-locally
Our annual holiday party was a blast last night at Antone's in downtown Austin, and as has become tradition, we took the time to interrogate our guests in between sips of sweet beverage. This time: As Texas progressives, what do we most want for the holidays - politically speaking of course? We got a bunch of terrific answers from a bunch of terrific people, with whom we were happy to reconnect after a bruising mid-term, and with whom we are proud to carry the fight forward into 2023 and beyond. Thanks as always for your support of Progress Texas - and Happy Holidays!
It's become an annual exercise of catharsis, renewal and forward strategy for us at Progress Texas: every year, we analyze the last year of the battle and pick out the five best, and five worst, Texans when it came to the arc of politics in the Lone Star State. On the good side, the obvious: Beto O'Rourke and Mothers Against Greg Abbott, along with pleasant surprise heroes like Olivia Julianna and Access Education Round Rock. On the bad side, the even more obvious Greg Abbott and Ted Cruz, with disturbing and dangerous surprises in the Republican press on banning books and attacking school boards. Right now, for Texas progressives, it can be easy to see and to be discouraged by all the negatives stacked against us - but we're here also to highlight and celebrate the good and the possible that is always present in Texas, and we're renewed for the fight ahead. Thanks as always for your support of Progress Texas!
At a moment when Elon Musk appears to be doing all he can to destroy his new $44 billion toy, Facebook is largely DOA, the TikTok kids are interested in anything but politics, and one particular orange gorilla has thrown in once again for the top job - how on Earth are candidates and political orgs to navigate the catastrophic mess that is the current scene of social media? As things ramp up (yes, already) for 2024, are there any viable platforms left for factual, ethically-sound politics? How are we to counter the ever-present and continually-evolving threat of disinformation? Tough questions, whose answers are changing day to day. Thanks for joining the crew on a fascinating but frustrating ride this week, and thanks as always for your support of Progress Texas.
Nationally, and also at the city level in the large metros of Texas, Democrats actually had a better than expected night on Tuesday. But at the statewide level? The same old goose egg. What happened? Is this just an impossible fight? And if not, what have we learned? The crew is joined by Texas Blue Action Democrats President Carrie Collier-Brown for a post-mortem of the '22 midterm election, in which no degree of campaigning or spending appears to have made a dent for Texas Dems - but which also provides some valuable lessons and reason to be confident and determined as we begin - yes - our contemplation of 2024. Thank you as always for your support of Progress Texas!
Here we are folks - as we publish this podcast, there's one day of early voting left (Friday November 4), followed by Election Day on Tuesday November 8. In the spirit of Go Time, we present a carefully constructed, somewhat triggering, and cruelly short list of the top ten reasons YOU should vote AGAINST Governor Greg Abbott.
In no particular order:
1 - Abortion Bans (3:50)
2 - Border Bullshit (10:15)
3 - The Assault On Public Schools (16:45)
4 - Inaction On Gun Violence (23:50)
5 - Attacks On LGBTQ+ Texans (30:10)
6 - The Texas Housing Crisis (36:40)
7 - FIX THE DAMN GRID! (39:35)
8 - The Inhumane Foster Care and Juvenile Justice System (45:10)
9 - Marijuana Is Still Illegal (48:45)
and,
10 - The Colossal, Criminally Cruel COVID Catastrophe (52:30).
That's a lot - and that's not really all. Please VOTE y'all. Thanks as always for your support - and we'll see you all after the election.
As early voting gets underway, we gather to take a tour through some of the prominent TV commercials being leveled in various directions by prominent players including Beto O'Rourke, Mike Collier, Rochelle Garza and yes - Governor Greg Abbott. Plus, a look at a powerful new piece from our heroes at Mothers Against Greg Abbott, and one of a more homegrown strain from TikTok that, we think, may represent the future of visual political advertising. Thanks as always for your support - and GO VOTE TEXAS!
Proud to welcome back Lana Hansen, Executive Director of Texas Blue Action, to provide an update on the ongoing Two Million Texans relational organizing effort aimed at strengthening Democratic performance in what may shake out to be a very challenging mid-term election. Listen to learn about how the Reach app can provide an invaluable tool in your own personal organizing effort! Thanks as always for your support of Progress Texas - and get ready to VOTE!
We celebrate the birthday of resident pumpkin spice latte enthusiast and IPA Truther Brett Isaacs with an overview of the potentially disastrous impact looming with multiple on-record 2020 election deniers occupying GOP slots on 2022 midterm ballots - more of them in Texas than in any other state. Not only is it a despicable, desperate and underhanded tactic, but the undermining of confidence in our electoral system presents a threat to American democracy itself - thus, November wins by Republicans unscrupulous enough to take this treacherous path represent the eroding of our very way of life. You've gotten tired of hearing that "this is the most important election of our lifetime" - but that's never been more true than it is this fall. Thanks for listening, and for your support of Progress Texas.
Proud to welcome a guest episode from our friends Nichole Abshire and Claire Campos-O'Neal at the Go Behind The Ballot podcast, which is quite well-timed as the first of several 2022 midterm election deadlines - the registration deadline on October 11 - has now come and gone. You'll recognize our good friend Emily Eby of the Texas Civil Rights Project here, with details on how elections have evolved in Texas, and why it's gotten so damned treacherous and difficult to vote in this state. Thanks as always for your support of Progress Texas!
Gotta hand it to Governor Greg Abbott: insisting on a Friday night debate with no audience is a great way to hide from the Texas electorate. Lucky you, the Progress Texas staff DID watch it - and bring to you this week a recap of five of the primary topics that were covered. Listen as we pick apart immigrant busing (7:19), guns (13:12), abortion (18:20), teachers and education (25:41), and housing and revenue (33:36). Welcome for the first time our new Communications Associate Emily Clark to the pod, and THANK YOU for your support of Progress Texas!
Adding to his laundry list of career lows this week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton made the news for literally running from a process server attempting to serve him with a subpoena at his North Texas home. The crew convenes this week to closely examine the years and years of outlandish, outlaw behavior that our state's top law enforcement official has (so far) gotten away with, and to also imagine a situation where a true standout legal hero - say, Rochelle Garza - might be able to bring honor back to the AG's office. Thanks for your support of Progress Texas - and don't forget to VOTE!
In this second part of our discussion of Hispanic Heritage Month, Sam Gonzalez again hosts Diana Gomez, Ed Espinoza and special guest Abel Prado of Cambio Texas in an exploration of the cornucopia of terms that American Hispanics use to describe themselves and each other - frequently leading to confusion, and sometimes conflict. Latino/Latino/Latinx? Chicano? Tejano? Each has a particular meaning, and we're here to shed some light on a subject that needs broader discussion and understanding. Thanks for listening, and for your support of Progress Texas!
September 15 thru October 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month, and to celebrate we're embarking on a two-part conversation on the complex politics of that particular community here in the Lone Star State, in particular in South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley. Sam Gonzalez hosts Diana Gomez and Ed Espinoza, plus special guest Abel Prado, Executive Director of Cambio Texas: a renowned org dedicated to activating and energizing Hispanic voters and candidates in the region.
Look for Part Two, a deep dive into the way we talk about this amazingly diverse community, including an exploration of ups and downs of the term "LatinX", later this week.
In what seemed to us - and likely many of you - as either a joke or a typo, South Carolina U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham has proposed a federal ban on abortion past 15 weeks. And curiously, this comes right at a moment when Republicans across the country (especially in places like Texas) are doing all they can to avoid the subject. Chris Mosser hosts a roundtable discussion with Brett Isaacs, Diana Gomez and Glenn Smith: is this a rogue Graham temper tantrum designed to sabotage the GOP in the mid-terms? Is it simply the Republicans showing their true intent ahead of a chance to regain control in Congress? Is there some twelve-moves-deep chess strategy happening here - or has Graham just petulantly shot his party in the foot? Thanks for joining us, and for your support of Progress Texas.
Sam Gonzalez hosts a trio of powerhouse progressive Texas women this week: our own Diana Gomez and Brett Isaacs, alongside super special guest Ana Ramon, who has just been announced as the new Executive Director of Annie's List, the undisputed champion in the encouragement and support of female political candidates here in Texas. We get a close look at what Annie's List does, and also take a deep dive on Attorney General candidate Rochelle Garza, who is at present giving our indicted current AG Ken Paxton a much stronger run for his money (and likely, his political future, not to mention his freedom) than he likely expected. Thanks for your support of Progress Texas!
Chris Mosser hosts this week as Ed Espinoza extrapolates what would appear to be some pretty promising recent polling for Texas progressives - that is, if Texas progressives hadn't been burned by promising polling time and time again. Still - it does look pretty good at the moment, and should serve as inspiration to double down and work even harder to elect Democrats all the way down the ballot. And, we review what's been a crazy hot summer both literally and figuratively in Texas and national politics on a range of topics, including the FBI (Brett Isaacs is not a fan), Rochelle Garza (Sam Gonzales is a tremendous fan), Judge Maya Guerra Gamble (we're ALL giant fans), Beto's convention speech and penchant for pottymouth, Dark Brandon, 2 Million Texans, and tons more. A Happy Fall, y'all - and onward to November.
As of today – Thursday, August 25, 2022 – Texas’ so-called trigger ban on abortion, which was set to take effect 30 days beyond the striking down of Roe v Wade and represents a significant escalation beyond the nefarious SB8, is officially the law of the land in the Lone Star State. It’s a grim moment indeed – and one that calls for a review of the ruins of reproductive rights in our state. Meanwhile, there are indications that the attack on abortion rights may have consequences for Republicans this fall – which may be why Texas GOP types are now making efforts to distract voters and distance themselves from the issue. What can we do as the fight continues? We discuss.
And, on a personal note – we’re sad to see our friend and colleague Wesley Story leave the Progress Texas nest! After over four years, his positive impact on our organization and mission is remarkable, and we wish Wesley all the best (listen to the end for some great parting words of Wesley wisdom).
The majority of schoolkids in Texas return to the classroom this week, and while this is normally an exciting time of adventure and fun, it's lost on nobody - including the kids themselves - that they're returning to a Texas public school system in the throes of crisis. Political culture battles at school board meetings, massive staffing shortfalls, continued threats from Republican leadership on multiple levels - all of that would be very difficult to overcome, and that's not even considering the horror of Uvalde and its continued aftermath of obfuscation and failure. Chris Mosser is joined by guest co-host Lana Hansen, Executive Director of Texas Blue Action Democrats, for a conversation with Patty Quinzi, Director of Public Affairs & Legislative Counsel for the Texas chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, covering the near-impossible circumstances facing Texas school districts, the long-term risks presented by our state government's continued fumbling of education, and the way out of this historic mess - ultimately, it all comes down to your VOTE this November. Thanks as always for supporting Progress Texas, who express our eternal support for our Texas educators.
We've sat in bemusement from yet another wave of crazy from MAGA-Land since the FBI executed a (perfectly legal and justified) search warrant at Donald Trump's place. And when Trump-world gets fired up, it's not only funny - it can also be dangerous, in a number of different ways. Will the burst of sympathy for TFG sustain itself into November with positive impact for a new crew of Trumpy candidates? Are moderates tired of the over-half-decade of this particular circus yet, and like us, ready to see Trump get some degree of comeuppance? Do Roe and recent Biden wins blunt some of this impact? And, what does all of this mean in Texas? We discuss, and we thank you as always for joining us.
Texas Democrats are understandably wary of optimism - but lately, there are abundant signs that things may be turning around for the better. Recent wins for the Biden Administration, huge enthusiasm and turnout on Beto O'Rourke's Texas tour, the amazing outcome of the Kansas referendum on abortion rights, and the spectacular implosion of Alex Jones' defense in the ongoing Sandy Hook damages trial are all reasons for progressives to buck up. Chris Mosser hosts this week as we take stock of a rare bright spot, and energize for the continued, tough fight awaiting Texas progressives as November draws nigh.
As the countdown continues towards August 25 - the day that Texas' trigger law officially outlawing abortion in the state will take effect - the Austin City Council has passed a resolution known as the GRACE Act, which essentially relegates abortion-related cases to the lowest priority for local agencies and law enforcement. Will it provide meaningful protection, and become a model for individual jurisdictions within states where the fall of Roe means the end of abortion care? What more can we do as the fight for reproductive justice continues? We discuss. THANK YOU for listening, and for your support of Progress Texas.
Yes, we know - Texas Democrats have been burned by optimistic polling more than once - but, these are not typical times, nor a typical political climate, and there's reason to pay attention to the direction that data for both polling AND fundraising for the November midterms is taking. Not only ticket-topper Beto O'Rourke, but also down-ballot progressives including Mike Collier, Rochelle Garza, Susan Hays and the rest of our truly impressive slate are significantly narrowing polling gaps, and also out-fundraising their Republican incumbent opponents - a scenario that has not occurred in Texas since the Ann Richards days. We go over these numbers, and also give our reactions to sections of Beto's speech at last weekend's Texas Democratic Convention - which, by the way, can be heard in its entirety here. Thanks for listening and supporting Progress Texas!
Since the beginning of this historically horrible heat wave, the Texas power grid has teetered on the brink of repeating the disaster of Winter Storm Uri - but, losing power in the summer would be an even more devastating blow for Texans than the horror we endured that winter. Governor Abbott's promises that "the grid is fixed" are clearly baloney, so we thought it a good time for a clear discussion on the nature of our state's energy problem, how we got here, and how we can finally put this sorry, embarrassing affair behind us. We're joined by Texas Railroad Commission nominee Luke Warford, who's clearly doing all he can to bring forward solutions, and Blue Action Democrats co-founder and esteemed energy attorney Carrie Collier-Brown - our go-to expert for all things grid - for a clear discussion on the power problems that continue to plague our state, and what can be done about them - starting with your VOTE this November.
We've now had about a week to process the historic overturning of Roe V Wade. This third part of our series on this pivotal crossroads is both a summary of how concerned progressives can take action NOW, with just four months to go until November, and an analysis of how we came to this desperate moment - where not only abortion rights, but the American Experiment itself appears to be hanging by a thread, after a methodical and diabolical half-century crusade by the American right.
As we continue our focus on the fight ahead beyond the ripping away of reproductive autonomy with the overturning of Roe v Wade - which is likely only the beginning - it becomes clear that the upcoming mid-term election this November is of potentially existential importance for our democracy. Texas has proven to be the origin point for the draconian conservative agenda that is now coming to fruition, and it's up to us in Texas to put a stop to it. Part 2 of our three-part series features Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke's address to his Rally For Reproductive Freedom in East Austin last Sunday.
This is our most desperate hour - it's time for ACTION.
Austin, Texas - and cities across the United States - erupted in protest this weekend following Friday's announcement of the overturning of Roe v Wade. In a three-part podcast series, Progress Texas takes stock of the damage, in order to assess the path forward - but for now, we're ANGRY, and so are you. Part One is an audio tour through the announcement, and the outrage that followed.
MY BODY - MY CHOICE.
A terrific time earlier this week at Antone's in downtown Austin, as a great bunch of like-minded Texas progressive rabble-rousers gathered to celebrate 12 years of Progress Texas! While the good times were rolling, we worked the room and collected quick interviews from a couple-dozen party-goers to survey what they like most about our efforts, and what they consider the most important agenda items as we move forward - we were surprised at the variety of great answers they provided, and those make up this minisode. THANK YOU to everyone who came, and to all of you who have supported us over our first twelve years - including those of you who have subscribed to our podcasts. Here's to another 12!
And by the way: the Espinoza Mimosa is comprised of Espolon Tequila, Agave Nectar, Lime Juice, and Orange Juice.
An honor to host two distinguished guests from the LGBTQ+ activist community for a deep dive into Pride Month: its origins, its meaning today, and what the fight ahead may bring. Ricardo Martinez is the Executive Director of Equality Texas, and Gin Pham is the Communications and Outreach Manager for the Transgender Education Network of Texas (also known as TENT). Progress Texas takes great Pride in our partnership with these orgs, who are working on the ground everyday to fight for LGBTQ+ equality.
All about Pride Month from Progress Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/pride-month-celebrations-across-texas-2022
Following Uvalde, it's not a stretch to predict that in the end, Governor Greg Abbott and the rest of Texas' GOP regime will end up doing nothing meaningful to prevent the next mass killing in our state. After all, following El Paso, Santa Fe, Sutherland Springs, Fort Hood, and far too many other preventable tragedies in Texas, Abbott has done worse than nothing: guns have proliferated as they've increased in firepower, and can now be legally found in almost every corner of our lives. We thought an examination of our Governor's complete failure to protect Texans from gun violence deserved a conversation, and we've brought in Austin gun policy activist Ed Scruggs to join the team this week.
At this point, the only way out of this madness is to VOTE our way out.
As an upsetting week of turmoil and tragedy since the horrific school shooting in Uvalde wraps, we must continue to focus on the other crucial issues that face progressive Texans as we prepare to vote in November - one of which is the impending likely fall of Roe v Wade. We've designed an entire effort to fight back - we're calling for a Roevolution! And, to help illuminate the struggle ahead for our abortion rights, we're proud to welcome a trio of the toughest women in Texas: state legislators Carol Alvarado, Donna Howard and Vikki Goodwin have been in the trenches opposite Texas Republicans for years, and in this mini-sode they share their experiences, their insights, and their advice as we prepare for what's shaping up to be a monumentally consequential fight.
It's been a heavy week, and all of us at Progress Texas are as heartbroken and angry as you are. This week we upend the right-wing talking points, we look at how various leaders have responded to the tragedy, and what actions you can take. We also consider what a future looks like without these tragedies, freedom from fear, and how to renew our resolve to fight back. We skipped the beers and brought in a larger team this week - join us for a frank conversation.
We mourn with Uvalde today - and we recommit to restoring the safety of ALL Texas children, starting now.
It was our honor to help organize and host the recent Bans Off Our Bodies Rally for Austin - one of dozens that happened across the country on Saturday May 14 - at the Texas State Capitol. This week we're reviewing a few of the tremendous lineup of impassioned speakers, ranging from elected officials to motivated advocates, and all co-emceed by our own Diana Gomez! Join us in getting fired up all over again with former State Senator Wendy Davis (05:45), Lilith Fund activist Paige Alexandria (15:08), State Senator Carol Alvarado (24:40), State Representative Donna Howard (28:09), U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett (36:40), and Democratic nominee and presumptive new U.S. Representative Greg Casar (40:15).
THANK YOU to all who attended. Join the Roevolution today!
You're not having deja vu - it IS, indeed, time to VOTE once again. Why do we have so darn many elections this year? That's part of our discussion today, along with an analysis of the offices and issues in question.
A quick guide to our major endorsements:
Lieutenant Governor (index to 13:32): Mike Collier (whom we talked to recently in our April 9 minisode)
Attorney General (16:38): Rochelle Garza (our guest for our February 10th minisode)
Land Commissioner (20:00): Jay Kleberg (listen to Episode 54, from April 22)
State Comptroller (24:05): Janet Dudding (a proud proponent of marijuana legalization!)
U.S. House - Texas District 28 (28.33): Jessica Cisneros (over highly problematic longtime incumbent Henry Cuellar, whose very presence in a runoff speaks volumes)
Texas Senate - District 27 (33:26): Sara Stapleton Barrera (to replace outgoing, and also highly problematic incumbent Eddie Lucio Jr.)
Early voting is on NOW through May 20, and Election Day is Tuesday May 24. Any details you need about voting are easily found at GoVoteTexas.org. There ARE NO MINOR ELECTIONS - see you at the polls.
Also - if you'll be in the Austin area on Saturday May 14, we'd appreciate your presence at the Texas State Capitol for our Bans Off Our Bodies rally in support of Roe v Wade and abortion rights, with our own Diana Gomez as co-emcee! The event starts at 11am.
We discovered that last week's Supreme Court development, being the cataclysmic event that it is, was too big to contain to one conversation - so we're presenting this second phase of our talk on what seems to be the impending end of Roe v Wade with a discussion of what comes next - specifically, how progressives in Texas and beyond can rally and activate in advance of the November mid-terms. Basic American freedoms hang in the balance in a few short months - will we rise to the challenge? This episode features the valuable input of Dyana Limon-Mercado of Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, whom we appreciate.
It's difficult to throw around the word "happy" at this moment, as progressives across the country and people around the world stand aghast at this week's developments from the U.S. Supreme Court. It's a surreal moment, that feels like an escalation in the culture war past a red line - the first time in our nation's history that a settled right has been taken away from the American people. What's the real legal situation, what's next, and what can we do about it? We welcome our good friend Dyana Limon-Mercado of Planned Parenthood Texas Votes to lend her valuable insight at a truly unsettling time.
Watch for Part 2, as we cover the Roe drama's likely impact on upcoming elections - speaking of which, there's one Saturday! It's time to stand up y'all - and as always - please, PLEASE VOTE.
Texas transplant Elon Musk has succeeded in drawing the world's attention to himself in buying Twitter. The story's moving quickly, and the implications are building: will he be the next media mogul, or will the era of huge social networks end in favor of micro networks? We also talk about the line between "free speech" and the unfettered flow of falsehood and hate. Finally, will Twitter continue along with business as usual, or will it become an instrument of the right, or will it fade away? Lots of questions - we attempt to give answers!
The crew convenes to remind Texans it's VOTING time again! Early voting is happening now for the "uniform" May 7 statewide election, including two constitutional amendments on housing policy - our very own Brett Isaacs returns to offer her hot takes on the confusing ballot language. Turnout will be very light - making YOUR vote count in a significantly outsized way. There are also 47 school districts holding elections - and as you've heard, those elections have come into the crosshairs of Texas conservatives, who look to further their ridiculous book-banning plans. Plus, here in Austin, we have a chance to vote for Prop A, which if passed will decriminalize marijuana possession in small amounts, and also outlaw no-knock warrants. No lines! It's fun! Go Vote!
Friday marks the 52nd annual Earth Day - over half a century in which climatic decline has developed from a vague threat into a gradually, inexorably manifesting reality. We live on the precipice of the point of no return - and Texas being the energy leader it is, our General Land Office is one of few authorities that stands a chance of making a major difference. We welcome Jay Kleberg, who's currently running for Texas Land Commissioner, for a survey of the current state of the Earth, what can be done to save it, and what his plan of action would be should he win his race.
On this year's 4/20, we take a deep breath and dive into marijuana legalization: a majority of Texas voters want it, including Democrats, Republicans, and independents - so what's the hold-up? We enjoyed a joint discussion with our good friend Jax James, Executive Director of Texas NORML, on the likelihood of Texas ever finally joining the civilized world on cannabis, and ending the widespread injustice that results from prohibition - especially with legal pot now right next door in New Mexico, and the giant green boat being missed for Texas farmers and Texas tax coffers. Happy 4/20 everybody!
Part Two of this week's amazing road trip to D/FW found us in Cowtown at the historic T&P Tavern, situated in the 1930's-era Texas And Pacific Railway building (which is now condos, but those are real trains going by!). We had the pleasure of talking with Dr. Allison Campolo, chair of the Tarrant County Democratic Party and founder of Tarrant Together (not to mention an infectious disease doctor and heavyweight Kung Fu fighter!), and Congressman Marc Veasey, currently representing Texas House District 33 - two people who know the ins and outs of the Democratic fight in Fort Worth and Tarrant County better than anyone. Join us for a deep dive into a part of Texas regarded by many as a bellwether for the political future of the Lone Star State.
It's our pleasure to return to Dallas' Toller Patio, which is a terrific outdoor hang (turns out, even in the middle of a thunderstorm!) for a fun and enlightening conversation with Kristy Noble, the new head of the Dallas County Democratic Party. We learned about the vital role of the county level in progressive politics, how Dallas Dems are fighting back against new voting restrictions, and more - plus Diana tried bourbon for the first time, making this episode a must-listen.
Watch for a second episode this week from our Pints For Progress road trip to the D/FW Metroplex, recorded live at the T&P Tavern in Fort Worth!
We're joined by our friend Mike Collier, a familiar face for most Texas Democrats, who is in a runoff election on May 24th for the Democratic nomination to challenge incumbent Lt. Governor Dan Patrick in November. We ask Mike: what's the most important function of this office, arguably the most powerful in Texas, and what are the most prominent of the hundreds of things he'd do differently than the current guy? And with all of the miles he's put on his truck - what has he learned about running - and himself - on the campaign trail?
Wow, 50 Happy Hours on the books! Two polls this week show Beto O'Rourke gaining on Greg Abbott in the race for Texas Governor - one of them showing the race down to two points.We also address a new push from Lt. Governor Dan Patrick to emulate Florida's ridiculous "Don't Say Gay" bill here in the Lone Star State - not to mention the surreal war that the Texas GOP has declared on Mickey Mouse. Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor Mike Collier joins us - and he's got some opinions to share.
Cornbread in the shape of Texas: impractical, or worth the hassle? This week we talk about keeping the progressive light burning in Texas, the evolution of our signature program Humans Against Ted Cruz, and ponder the usefulness of Texas-shaped things. Also in this heartfelt minisode we bid adieu to our longtime anchor and spirit squad leader Saatvik Ahluwalia, who's off to Massachusetts - a much colder state but with a much more reliable energy grid. And we introduce our new Digital Manager and Happy Hour Host Sam Gonzalez - a veteran Texas podcaster and dedicated progressive rabble-rouser.
Vote for our own Diana Gomez in TWO categories in the Austin Chronicle's Best Of Austin poll:
https://vote.austinchronicle.com/politics-and-media/activist
https://vote.austinchronicle.com/politics-and-media/politics-and-media-wild-card
And, get your sweet Humans Against Ted Cruz gear here: https://store.progresstexas.org/
Trans Day of Visibility seeks to celebrate the accomplishments and resiliency of the trans community, and this year it comes while Republicans have launched attacks on trans kids. We're proud to welcome two of our favorite advocates and activists for trans rights, as Adri Perez of ACLU of Texas joins us, and LGTBQ+ policy consultant Ash Hall returns to the podcast. We discuss defiance in the face of cheap political attacks, the lies being told, and why in spite of it all, we can remain hopeful for the future.
Our fab panel of Texas women from this week's Happy Hour podcast returns for a sharper focus on abortion rights, which are now under active attack in multiple U.S. states. These are "copycat laws" modeled after Texas' own notorious SB8 and its reliance on vigilante action for enforcement. For this special Women's History Month mini-sode, Progress Texas Development Manager Brett Isaacs hosts, along with Shellie Hayes-McMahon from Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, attorney and voting rights expert Emily Eby, and Carrie Collier-Brown of the Texas Blue Action Democrats.
As we approach the closing days of March and Women's History Month, real history is being made in Washington D.C., and we've convened a special group of our favorite Texas ladies for a deep dive on the ongoing Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Ketanji Brown Jackson - who is proving to be up to the task of facing down the extraordinarily lame Republican attacks and "jackassery" she's had to tolerate. Progress Texas Development Manager Brett Isaacs hosts, along with Shellie Hayes-McMahon from Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, attorney and voting rights expert Emily Eby, and Carrie Collier-Brown of the Texas Blue Action Democrats.
Programming note: This Saturday, watch for a special mini-sode as this same great panel of women takes stock of what's happening in the ongoing abortion rights fight.
For many Texans, especially Austinites, the moment when the COVID-19 pandemic got really, really real came on March 6, 2020: the day that SXSW was officially cancelled. At the time it seemed unthinkable, as did much of what was still to come over the next two harrowing and surreal years. But now, SXSW returns to Austin in fully live form, and it's not a stretch to consider this moment one of victory, renewal and promise for ALL of us. We discuss what SXSW means to Austin, Texas and the world as one of the great intersections of art, communication, technology, innovation - and of course, BBQ, tacos and beer. We're back baby! Thanks so much for your support.
Senior strategist Glenn W. Smith and Content Production Specialist Chris Mosser had the pleasure of talking with renowned Texas energy attorney and former Democratic nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner Chrysta Castaneda on the big topic at hand: the new American sanctions on Russian oil, the possible strategic maneuvers and consequences ahead - and specifically, what all of this means for Texans, and why it's important for progressives to stand strong and speak the truth in what could be a trying and pivotal moment for all of us. PLEASE SHARE this insightful and important conversation with your friends, and thanks as always for your support.
Glenn's terrific piece on this topic: https://progresstexas.org/blog/facts-about-biden-oil-and-ukraine-contradict-republican-lies
It's our first anniversary! And what a year it's been. Way WAY too many Lege sessions, the Democratic quorum break, unprecedented and unlimited ugly from the Texas GOP. And, a LOT of Truly down the hatch. Reviewing our first year, it's pretty amazing what we've endured - and it's also starkly clear that we've still got a long way to go - so, THANK YOU for being part of the family.
Meanwhile - we have a primary election to unpack. What were we surprised about, what are we excited about, and what are the challenges ahead in May and November? We're lucky to have Cliff Walker of progressive, Black and Brown-owned communications and advocacy firm Seeker Strategies to contribute his take - including the fact that Republican voter suppression appears to be working just as designed in Texas, contrasted with the huge and growing buzz for Beto O'Rourke!
This evening (Wednesday March 2) at 6pm, the annual Amplify Austin Day begins - a full 24 hour celebration of giving and support of worthy Austin-based charities and non-profits, and Progress Texas is once again a proud participant! Seems like a great time to pause, reflect on the first year of our podcast, thank YOU for making that first year such a huge success, and explain how supporting Progress Texas is such an easy and important way to help Texas move forward into a better, brighter future.
Either directly (at https://progresstexas.org/), or via Amplify Austin (at https://www.amplifyatx.org/campaigns/progress-texas), we can't thank you enough for being part of the ongoing and building progressive movement in Texas.
Even with weeks of buildup, the invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin's Russia has still been a complete shock to most Texans. What will be the immediate and long-term impacts in Texas, what can we do to help, and what's coming next? Dr. Jody Ferguson is an Austin-based author and expert on Russian political thought and strategy, and we're honored to have spent some time listening to his insight - his hosts for this special bonus podcast are Progress Texas Development Manager Brett Isaacs and Content Creation Specialist Chris Mosser.
There are many ways YOU can help: we found a good collection of Ukraine-focused aid organizations that was posted by KSAT television in San Antonio.
Yesterday, the whole country was shocked (once again!) at another callous, disgusting election-year maneuver by Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, who have once again singled out transgender Texas kids as a prop in their never-ending cosplay of cruelty for the most vile dregs of the Republican voting base. This time though, yet another creative legal innovation: they're going after the families of these vulnerable young Texans, attempting to criminalize them with accusations of child abuse. And what's more, all of this is an obvious ploy to distract both Democrats and Republicans away from Abbott's blatant corruption and collusion with the energy industry to fleece Texans for generations. Ground Game Texas' Julie Oliver and Progress Texas Content Creation Specialist Chris Mosser join us for this week's discussion - you almost can't write this stuff! But, we discuss our options in fighting back...first and foremost, VOTE. Thanks for joining us!
Marijuana attorney Susan Hays joins us from her hops and hemp farm near Alpine! Susan brings together an extensive background in progressive advocacy, and an impeccable pedigree in land management and environmental stewardship - plus expertise on what a Texas-based marijuana industry could mean for our state. She's challenging longtime Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, who is a walking anachronism - as is much of his party. The agriculture sector in the Lone Star State needs leadership that will help us succeed in the actual real world.
We welcome special guest Jessica Montoya Coggins of Texas Signal for a discussion of the ongoing primary election: while urban turnout is looking decent, our state's history of low turnout in elections like these appears to be holding. New restrictions on voting access are causing an unprecedented number of registration rejections - but our hope is that an over-arching sense of voter suppression may actually help turnout, as voters defy efforts by the GOP to silence progressive voices in Texas. As Jessica says: if Republicans weren't terrified of Democratic voters, they wouldn't bother trying to stop us from voting. So get it done! And thanks for your support.
As we record, early voting in the 2022 primary election begins in just a few days, on Valentine's Day, Monday February 14. This may come as a surprise to even engaged progressives - who, along with the rest of us, may simply be a little burned out. But the struggle continues, and this week we're here to help get you caught up and ready to go. At the top of the ballot, Beto O'Rourke has dominated the Dem side and is already the presumptive nominee in the race for Governor. On the other side, Governor Greg Abbott, while well-funded by the under-regulated Texas energy industry, finds himself beset by motivated, hard-right challengers - all of whom would make an even worse leader for Texas than Abbott already is. Further down the ballot, we discuss the races for Lieutenant Governor (index to 15:20), Attorney General (22:50), State Comptroller (29:10), Land Commissioner (34:55), Agriculture Commissioner (43:15), and Railroad Commissioner (47:15). Don't forget, in a low turnout election, YOUR vote carries more weight than in most - get it done, and bring your friends too!
Given the way our long-indicted current Attorney General Ken Paxton has run the top law enforcement office in Texas, Texans may have forgotten what that office is supposed to be about: enforcing the law and ensuring justice, not just protecting the Republican regime. It also might seem that correcting this issue is beyond our reach, but it's not. We enjoyed meeting one Democrat who's stepping up to challenge what has become the status quo at AG: Rochelle Garza of the Rio Grande Valley.
As we record the podcast this week, Texas is bracing for another February Arctic blast. Governor Abbott - who shared in the financial windfall from last year's freeze in which millions of Texans lost power, and hundreds did not survive - has been promising for months that the power will stay on this time, but just yesterday our Governor walked back that promise. Democrat Beto O'Rourke is on a "keep the lights on tour" and drawing attention to the #AbbottTax where consumers are footing the bill to weatherize the grid. We've also got tips for getting through this next environmental trial for Texas - good luck to us all. Stay warm and safe - and don't forget how the elected leaders of our state have once again failed to earn our confidence.
Brett Isaacs joins the Happy Hour crew as we cover this week's big news that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has announced his impending retirement. Do we expect Republicans to play nice with President Biden's replacement wishes? And a big announcement, as we present a new initiative to protect abortion rights in Texas and across the nation: it's time for a Roevolution! Lots to cover, and important ways YOU can join the fight - join us to learn more, and thanks as always for your support.
Chris Mosser fills for Saatvik this week as we try to make sense (and it's not easy) of recent developments in voter access: at the federal level conservatives remain opposed to voting rights legislation, and at the local level vote-by-mail applications are getting rejected en masse due to Texas voter suppression laws. Also there's a shortage of voter registration forms in the state, and the Texas Secretary of State is making the ludicrous claim that "supply chain issues" are the reason why (if only we had online voter registration). No trick is too cheap for the GOP these days.
ELECTION WATCH: The March 1st primary is only five weeks away! We take a look at some of the more interesting congressional primaries in districts 28, 35, and 37, as well as how marijuana is playing in the race for Agriculture Commissioner.
Our good pal Joe Deshotel of the terrific Texas Signal group joins us this week as we take a deep dive into Operation Lone Star - Governor Abbott's politically-motivated, poorly-executed and ill-advised mobilization of the Texas National Guard troops to the Mexican border, which has resulted in all-time-low morale and a pattern of suicides among our troops. We also take the temperature of the current efforts of Beto O'Rourke to replace our deeply unpopular Governor - how do we think he's doing so far on pandemic policy, marijuana policy, border policy, energy policy and other important points? As difficult as the fight can seem at times, we're all hopeful for the future of Texas, and we discuss that as well. Join us!
Happy New Year y'all! We're back for our first show of 2022 and the first anniversary of the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol - unbelievable that it's been a full year since that insane day.
We start with everyone's favorite punching bag, Ted Cruz, who led the sedition caucus in the U.S. Senate that day, attempting to overturn the election for Donald Trump - a guy who literally hates him. And now, as Ted Cruz tries to distance himself from that day's events, he's getting twitter-dunked by none other than Tucker Carlson.
Saatvik revisits the messages we sent to each other a year ago, what we were all feeling, and the surreal tone of the event and the weeks that followed. We wrap-up covering the messaging around that day and how we should talk about the events a year later. And a reminder about the importance of getting your friends to show up in the midterms and vote all the way down the ballot - it's those city councils and county clerks that decide how elections are conducted!
Diana Gomez serves up a hot list of the ten most popular and useful gifts for Texas progressives preparing for the worst as Greg Abbott's efforts to keep the heat and lights on this winter appear to be dismal indeed. And then, to bring back the holiday cheer, we reflect on our favorite moments of a long and hard but worthwhile year pushing forward the cause of progress in the Lone Star State. Our last edition of the year! Thanks for your support - all the best to you and yours, along with our wishes for a happy, safe and prosperous 2022.
Nice list, meet naughty list. It's not a stretch to say it's been one hell of a year in Texas in '21 - with some Texans creating the hellish landscape, and other Texans bravely standing against them for what's right. Producer Chris Mosser (and a SUPER surprise guest from our nice list!) join us for a summary of five that fought the good fight, against five we'd like to see go down in flames in 2022. Based upon the summary you'll find at our website, complete with honorable mentions.
The March 1 primary elections will be upon us before we know it. Glenn Smith joins us this week to provide some historical background and the reasons Texas is particularly weird in this department, and why primaries in Texas tend to favor incumbents. Brett Isaacs joins us as well, as we run thru the races and candidates as they stand today, including the race for Governor: is Beto O'Rourke off to a good start, or is there more he could do? What do we know about new Democratic contenders Joy Diaz and Michael Cooper? Our cup runneth over with quality Dems running to replace long-double-indicted Trump bootlicker Ken Paxton at Attorney General. And how does LG candidate Mike Collier have such amazing hair? Lots to discuss, and caution: you are entering an extreme hot take zone.
We come to you, beverages in hand, at a moment when the U.S. Supreme Court appears poised to do away with the Roe v Wade precedent that has protected abortion rights for women in our country since 1973. Proud to welcome special guest Marva Sadler of Whole Woman's Health, an eminent expert on reproductive rights. Our hats are off (and our glasses are up) to Justice Sonia Sotomayor for her courageous and correct view on the matter...we are enormous fans. How will American women react? What does all of this mean for the legitimacy of the Court itself? What's in store for the whole country if Roe falls? We are more motivated for the fight than ever, and we hope you are too. Welcome to "interesting times", and thanks for your support.
What a GREAT time at Toller Patio in downtown Dallas as we gathered with a group of friends and allies for a terrific conversation with State Reps Rafael Anchia and Jessica Gonzales on their experiences during this tough year at the Lege, why they're hopeful that things are about to get a lot better, and how we can all join in that fight. What a pleasure to be in Dallas, and we hope to do many more live tapings in coming months - stay tuned for your chance to join us!
Glenn Smith joins us this week as we conduct a post-mortem of election results across the country, and find that, while there are definite lessons to be learned, the negative takes from national media and hand-wringing from Democrats everywhere over results in New Jersey and Virginia might be just a little over-wrought, as there were actually many progressive wins to savor - in Austin, including the overwhelming defeat of Prop A. We also consider the very curious legislative career of Bexar County's John Lujan, who's now been elected twice but has never actually served! We're gearing up for what's sure not going to be a boring '22 political season, and we hope you are too - thanks for your support.
It's our first (and maybe...our last) Halloween Spooky Special! And believe us, there's plenty haunting us this year, but there's also hopeful news: the new GOP electoral maps threaten to make life frightening for the next decade, but there are challenges advancing. And the U.S. Supreme Court is set to consider the new Texas abortion restrictions, maybe as soon as in the next few days. Speaking of frightening, we share our spookiest stories: why did Mitt Romney and Kyrsten Sinema have to go and ruin Ted Lasso for us? Who can convince us that Ted Cruz isn't not only a zombie, but a Nazi zombie? We sure are spooked by North Texas Rep. Matt Krause's new book-burning adventure - only a couple of steps from a full-on witch hunt. Maybe we're still in shock from the horror of four gruesome Lege sessions? Let's just hope that when the lights go out this winter, it's just because of ghosts. Thanks for your support in these perilous times.
The November 2 election is upon us - with early voting happening now - including eight proposed state constitutional amendments: we summarize each of them, get reactions from Brett Isaacs and give recommendations on how to vote. Other important items are on the ballot too, depending on where you live. Smart voters are the best voters - go get it done! We've also got updates on Governor Abbott's new appointee as Secretary of State - a veteran of Donald Trump's war on democracy - and an update on the federal Freedom To Vote Act.
A LOT to cover again this week. Right under all of our noses - and in the middle of the night - Republicans at the Texas Legislature are drawing and approving district maps that will unfairly solidify their power, at the expense of the Texans of color who now comprise the majority in the Lone Star State, FOR THE NEXT DECADE. Also, we discuss Governor Abbott's new wholesale ban on vaccine mandates: what exactly is the strategy in aiding and abetting a deadly pathogen? On that note, we welcome Progress Texas Board Member Kathleen Thompson, who's in the midst of a clash with her kids' school district in the DFW area over their decision not to enforce masking. And after months of opposition, Texas Republicans finally succeeded in victimizing trans kids - what's next on that front? Crazy times in Texas = a jam-packed episode this week. Thanks for your ongoing support!
To exactly nobody's surprise, Texas Republicans are exceeding expectations when it comes to redistricting - drawing themselves into undeserved power while drawing non-white and urban Texans out of the representation they are due. How does this change the game for Democrats? Also: to help recap last weekend's Women's Marches and the ever-shifting legal status of the pernicious new Texas abortion ban, we welcome special guest and famed civil rights attorney Austin Kaplan, while Diana and Wesley fill us in on their trip to D.C. The latest on the multi-front fight for justice and progress in Texas, and how to help us fight back!
Lots to cover this week in Texas politics! The Legislature is in the middle of taking up redistricting. It's all about the distinction between partisan gerrymandering (which is allowed), and racial gerrymandering (which is not) and Republicans aren't typically good at drawing the distinction.
Also the pandemic, the grid? Nah, the next big issue for Republicans has been attacking transgender student athletes. A bill just passed the Senate and is on its way to the House - quite literally a solution in search of a problem, and a red-meat distraction from critical issues at the expense of some of our most vulnerable kids.
And a crisis on our border - but a crisis for whom? Haitian refugees are seeking asylum yet horrific images of border patrol show agents on horseback using reins as whips have shocked us all. Yet another wild week in Texas - join us to learn more about how to fight back.
Who’s running for Governor? We're entering the orbit of our next election cycle, still without a big-name Democrat declared. Considering the stakes, this is concerning for sure. We expect some word from Beto O'Rourke on whether he'll run - and notably, we still lack any women candidates in major races, which is surprising considering the terrific talent among Texas Democratic women. And at the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, we'd also love to see our Latinx powerhouse players jump in, especially considering recent Census data - people of color in general. Also, believe it or not, here comes ANOTHER special Lege session, with redistricting as the main event, presenting yet another opportunity for the Texas GOP to further cement its illegitimate advantage via gerrymandering and the negating of the power of our major cities and underserved communities. And, GOP antics around COVID continue - seemingly ANYTHING to avoid masks and vaccines - "freedom" at the expense of the safety and freedom of ALL Texans...almost NONE of whom are especially jazzed about the direction of the state.
Proud to present, as a special edition of the Happy Hour, a panel of some of the most incredible women representing the progressive movement in Texas for a discussion of the draconian new abortion restriction enacted last week in Texas: SB8. Texas Blue Action Executive Director Lana Hansen moderates a truly amazing group: State Senator Wendy Davis, Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas, Democratic nominee and Register@Vote founder Julie Oliver, Blue Action Founder and President Carrie Collier Brown, Blue Action Dems Board Member Michelle Moon-Reinhardt, The Honor Roll founder Kate Donaho, and Common Cause organizer and activist Katya Ehresman. What does SB8 really mean, is it likely to survive judicial review, how did it come to pass, and how can Texans fight back? Join the discussion AND the fight today.
What a week. Texas makes national news in perhaps the worst possible way - with the enacting of the most repressive restriction upon abortion since Roe v Wade, effectively suspending that almost 50-year precedent in Texas. The new law is confusing - because it is DESIGNED to confuse us, intimidate us, and further divide us. Meanwhile, get ready to see a lot more guns on a lot more hips across Texas as permitless carry also goes into effect this week. And, Texas teachers are now forbidden from discussing race and diversity in our public schools, putting our kids at an educational disadvantage and our state on a regressive developmental path. All of this seems crazy, until one considers it's all designed to please the GOP's far right, primary-voting base - at the rest of our expense. The Texas Crazy Meter is well into the red - join us as we try to sort it all out.
Joining the crew this week, our good friend and Planned Parenthood Texas Votes Executive Director Dyana Limon-Mercado, who's the perfect authority at a moment when Senate Bill 8 is set to essentially outlaw most abortions in the state as of September 1. What's in the new law, what's still legal, what's not, and what's next? Also - Texas House Democrats score at least a partial walkout victory as the U.S. House passes the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. How might it upend the plans of the Texas GOP to disenfranchise thousands of Texas voters, and what stands in the way of the Act becoming law? We discuss all this and more, including how YOU can join the fight, on this week's Progress Texas Happy Hour.
https://progresstexas.org/blog/what-sets-texas%E2%80%99-abortion-ban-apart-rest-abortion-bounty-hunters
https://needabortion.org/
Saatvik is back! And we welcome Progress Texas Development Associate Brett Isaacs to the Happy Hour for the first time as well. As the whole country watches, Governor Greg Abbott's ban on masking mandates - and the Texas Supreme Court's support of his orders - have met a wall of opposition by Texas families and urban school districts. Turns out, treating children as political pawns isn't especially appealing to most Texans - listen for a way to help Progress Texas fight back. Plus, new U.S. Census data shows an ever greater increase in diversity across America and Texas, which is important to note as redistricting approaches, and good reason for Democratic strategists to renew their efforts to connect with this growing range of Texas voters effectively. And finally, the fall of Afghanistan is bringing refugees to our shores, many of whom are seeking safety in our state - listen to find out how you can help make them welcome.
Over 300 Afghans are coming to Texas and it's beautiful to see. Volunteer: https://www.rstx.org/make-an-impact/volunteer.html
Producer Chris Mosser sits in for Saatvik again with Ed, Diana and Wesley as we dedicate most of this week's Happy Hour to an unhappy subject: the return of high COVID-19 numbers in Texas, compounded by Governor Abbott's apparent plan to make it as deadly as possible - not only for his own voters, but for the children of Texas, many of whom still cannot be vaccinated. What should Texas parents do? What should the mayors of Texas cities do? We're in the midst of a crisis of our own making, it seems - join the Progress Texas crew as we try to make sense of it all.
State Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos joins us this week live from Washington, D.C. as Texas House Dems advocate for voting rights legislation at the federal level. Ed, Wesley and pinch host Chris Mosser ask for an update on how the D.C. Dems are holding up, her take on the national press, the attention from the U.S. Congress they've gained, what's at stake - and what's coming next.
We're joined from D.C. by Texas State Reps Erin Zwiener and Gene Wu, who are among the Democrats who have once again broken quorum in the House to hold the line against GOP voting rights suppression - a brave move that is not without personal sacrifice and peril, and is also part of the defense of much more than just Texas voters - voting rights across our country are at stake. This is all a very big deal - we get down to what the real battle is all about.
As Governor Abbott's special session kicks off, the Happy Hour crew assembles to discuss the agenda - to start, what's NOT on the list: energy reform, COVID vaccinations, and expansion of Medicaid are nowhere to be found. And, what IS on it: Abbott's hostage-taking via his defunding of the Legislature's employees, new restrictions on abortion rights, and reacting to the Democratic walkout with another push for wholesale voter suppression. Once again, Texas progressives are called to action and encouraged to take inspiration from this challenge - listen for details on how to join us!
Our last Happy Hour for awhile - Saatvik is back! - as we continue our celebration of Pride Month through June, with a brief history of the celebration, and a recap of how LGBTQ issues shook out in the recently-concluded Lege session. We also go over what Texas lawmakers did (and didn't do) to prepare for our state's next energy emergency, possibly as early as this summer. And, even in one of the worst sessions ever, there were positive moments too - including the Democratic walkout to undermine SB7. And what's next? Glenn gives us the skinny on special sessions and how they work - they're almost certainly coming this year. Plus, what happens with Governor Abbott's petty threat to defund the legislature, including members of his own party?
Pride Across Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/pride-celebrations-across-texas-2021
Best and Worst of the TX Lege: https://progresstexas.org/blog/10-best-worst-moments-2021-texas-legislative-session
Republican State Legislatures are winning the war on American Democracy: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/republican-voting-rights-democracy_n_60ba544ee4b04b216be68ce6
The Texas Legislature hits the dimmer switch on real electric grid reform: https://progresstexas.org/blog/texas-legislature-hits-dimmer-switch-real-electric-grid-reform
Texas Democrats staged a walkout at the Texas Legislature on Sunday, killing voter suppression bill SB7 on what was effectively the last day of session. They showed some real fight! And along the way sent a message to the nation: we will not back down. We revisit this story and more as Diana Gomez moderates a special edition of the Progress Texas Happy Hour with two of our favorite Texas lawmakers: Representative Rafael Anchia of House District 103 (Dallas), and Senator Jose Menendez of District 26 (San Antonio). We'll hear their impressions of the just-completed regular Lege session, as well as important issues like abortion rights, marijuana policy reform, why they think it was the most contentious ever, and what to expect in future special sessions.
In the closing days before Sine Die - but not before a busy working holiday weekend - Senior Strategist Glenn Smith joins the regular Happy Hour crew as we reflect on what's been the most contentious and divisive Legislative session that any of us can remember. Also, one of the least productive sessions ever on important business for Texans, in particular putting Texas taxpayers on the hook for making energy companies whole, while doing nothing to prevent future energy disasters - the next of which may arrive as soon as this summer. We cover details on Progress Texas' efforts against dark money having a hand in writing Texas law, and the (very) thinly-veiled racism at the heart of both voter suppression and education censorship attempts by the GOP - the meanest, cruelest session in memory appears to be directly tied to The Big Lie.
Where is the Legislature on fixing our energy grid? https://progresstexas.org/blog/keep-lights-texas-we-need-change-power
Conservative org with ties to Trump & the Big Lie: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-files-ethics-complaint-against-heritage-action-involvement-voter-suppression
Dark money group admits it had a hand in Texas voter suppression bills: https://progresstexas.org/blog/dark-money-group-admits-it-had-hand-texas-voter-suppression-bills
Texas made national news this week with Governor Abbott's unconstitutional six-week abortion ban. The Progress Texas team made our own national news with our statements fighting back, reminding people that Roe v. Wade is still the law of the land and that this law will lose in court. What happens next? Organizers are planning a Don't Mess With Texans' Abortions rally for Saturday May 29 - listen to hear how you can participate in person or online.
Speaking of the Governor, he has a challenger in Don Huffines - who doesn't think Abbott is conservative enough - plus new conflicts between House and Senate Republicans potentially give the more unified Democrats a competitive edge.
Texas Legislature’s proposed six-week abortion ban is unconstitutional: https://progresstexas.org/blog/texas-legislature%E2%80%99s-proposed-six-week-abortion-ban-unconstitutional
House bill to punish lobbyists accused of harassment gutted in Senate committee: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2021/05/20/house-bill-to-punish-lobbyists-accused-of-harassment-gutted-in-senate-committee/
Don't Mess With Texans' Abortion Rights Rally:https://fb.me/e/2pKYEPot9
Welcome back to the Happy Hour! It was yet another insane week at the Capitol, as important deadlines arrived on Thursday night. Some bad bills were "chubbed" to death, while others bills - good and bad - squeaked across the deadline. We run it all down for ya.
We've also got an update on some of this session's most extreme proposals such as court-appointed lawyers for fetuses, permitless carry, and voter suppression. And we finish it off with some good news: marijuana decriminalization. DO IT FOR WILLIE!
Rep. Harold Dutton uses trans kids as political pawn: https://progresstexas.org/blog/rep-harold-dutton-uses-trans-kids-political-pawn
Voter Suppression Bill SB 7: Where it’s been, where it’s at, and where it’s going: https://progresstexas.org/blog/voter-suppression-bill-sb-7-where-it%E2%80%99s-been-where-it%E2%80%99s-and-where-it%E2%80%99s-going
Broken promises: Texas Republicans abandon gun safety, pander to far-right: https://progresstexas.org/blog/broken-promises-texas-republicans-abandon-gun-safety-pander-far-right
Texas Marijuana Bills: Have they passed or gone up in smoke? https://progresstexas.org/blog/texas-marijuana-bills-have-they-passed-or-gone-smoke
Happy Hour time, and after last night and the last few weeks, do we ever need some happy! We ARE happy about the huge turnout and passion of all of our partners for progress here in Texas, including all the folks sporting beautiful shades of orange, and our hard-working Democratic lawmakers who are fighting the good fight. We find that the response to our common cause gives us renewed motivation to keep working hard for Texans. Still, the fight is grueling, and we've got Lege war stories from this week that we'll never forget, including the constant distortion of the rules and use of veiled racist "purity" language in voter suppression and abortion restriction bills by GOP leadership. The bad acting and misplaced priorities are astounding - and ever greater motivation to keep fighting against them.
Hey! It's Happy Hour time, and we're joined by our friend Emily Eby of the Texas Civil Rights Project! As we continue through the grueling process of the Lege, Diana and Wesley share the story of the nutso parliamentary gymnastics of Briscoe Cain on voter suppression bills on Thursday. Emily describes the danger of empowering poll watchers - clearly a GOP intimidation ploy, especially if combined with the permitless carrying of handguns. We also share our tips for overcoming the fear of public speaking, at a moment when it's so important for ALL Texans to courageously speak up on the dirty deeds being done at the Capitol on voting rights, abortion rights, redistricting and more.
Why is Briscoe Cain the worst? https://progresstexas.org/blog/republican-briscoe-cain-over-his-head
DOJ being asked to step in to monitor TX Elections Cmte: https://www.kxan.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2021/04/SB7_DOJ.pdf
Happy Hour time! With news of Matthew McConaughey polling ahead of Greg Abbott, and the candidacy of Caitlyn Jenner in California, we mull the question: Is a celebrity Governor something we could live with? Is that a better move than the rock stars the Democrats already have in the bullpen? Also, the guilty verdict for Derek Chauvin in the George Floyd case: what does the moment mean, and what's next for police reform in Texas? We also talk about the state budget, how the miss on Medicaid expansion by GOP lawmakers is disappointing but not surprising, and legislative threats against corporations that take a stand against Republican policies. Puzzling as the opposition can be, Progress Texas continues the fight - thanks for listening and joining us!
On Medicaid fail: https://progresstexas.org/blog/biden-republicans-stop-kicking-can-down-road-medicaid
On Texas police reform: https://progresstexas.org/blog/3-police-reform-bills-watch-texas-legislature
After an exhausting week, it's time for Happy Hour! The crew is proud to welcome Ash Hall of the Transgender Education Network of Texas, as we discuss the wide range of dirty deeds that GOP lawmakers have been up to at the Capitol. In particular two anti-trans bills, SB-29 and HB-4042, designed to force our trans student athletes to conform to teams that don't align with their gender identities, and inviting conflict for Texas with the NCAA and other business interests. Also HB-1399, which bans trans children in Texas from receiving gender affirming medical care. Meanwhile, women's reproductive rights are also under attack via multiple bills in both chambers - it seems the assault is coming from all directions. Wondering what you can do to help Progress Texas fight back? Give us a listen.
Discriminatory bills in Texas would deny rights to trans kids: https://progresstexas.org/blog/discriminatory-bills-texas-would-deny-rights-trans-kids
Diana testifies on HB 3760: https://progresstexas.org/video/diana-g%C3%B3mez-testifies-protect-abortion-care
Major brands send message: Voter suppression is bad for business: https://progresstexas.org/blog/major-brands-send-message-voter-suppression-bad-business
Demand Repbulicans stop attacking Abortion: https://progresstexas.actionkit.com/sign/petition-demand-legislators-stop-attacking-abortion-care?source=actionpage
Demand Republicans stop attacking our Democracy: https://progresstexas.actionkit.com/sign/petition-demand-republicans-end-their-attack-on-our-voting-rights?source=actionpage
Happy Hour time! We welcome guest anchor Amanda Gnaedinger this week as we discuss the role of corporate America in our political discourse, as various companies begin to weigh in against voter suppression legislation in Texas. We also cover the economic peril our state is subjected to by reckless GOP lawmaking (see: Georgia). Wesley and Diana share "war stories" of the week at the Capitol, as the fight to preserve reproductive rights and healthcare in Texas continues - and, shout-outs for several of our valued partner orgs on the ground, joining forces in the ongoing battle for progress.
PETITION: DEMAND REPUBLICANS END THEIR ATTACK ON OUR VOTING RIGHTS
https://progresstexas.actionkit.com/sign/petition-demand-republicans-end-their-attack-on-our-voting-rights?source=actionpage&fbclid=IwAR0ZfLWsDbeXdxfMDEB2ks67eadLip3G-kbL81syOB8Urm8_DSqTNv7fyTs
7 anti-abortion bills the Texas Senate is wasting time on instead of bills to help Texans https://progresstexas.org/blog/7-anti-abortion-bills-texas-senate-wasting-time-instead-bills-help-texans?fbclid=IwAR0gRQptbrwBMfuPjlFKc36wGefg7pMPdcHSjkDk4L25IFTFeTRKRkZH3T0
Another wild week at the Texas Capitol brings us stories of waiting 20 hours to testify against anti-abortion legislation, a Republican bill to appoint lawyers for fetuses (?!), and special guest Ashley Cheng of the podcast The Rabble shares a story about the first time she took her mom to vote. We've also got updates on how Texas companies such as American Airlines, Dell, and Southwest Airlines are taking public positions against voter suppression bills.
Reference links:
Demand Dan Patrick stop attacking our reproductive rights: https://progresstexas.actionkit.com/sign/petition-demand-legislators-stop-attacking-abortion-care?source=actionpage
Abortion is healthcare Act would remove decades of Texas restrictions: https://progresstexas.org/blog/abortion-healthcare-act-would-remove-decades-texas-restrictions
7 anti-abortion bills the Texas Senate is wasting time on instead of bills to help Texans: https://progresstexas.org/blog/7-anti-abortion-bills-texas-senate-wasting-time-instead-bills-help-texans
Texas Republicans have launched an all out attack on our voting rights: https://progresstexas.org/blog/texas-republicans-have-launched-all-out-attack-our-voting-rights
Stop the Texas GOP from outlawing 2020 voting innovations: https://progresstexas.actionkit.com/sign/petition-demand-republicans-end-their-attack-on-our-voting-rights?source=actionpage
The Progress Texas Happy Hour crew convenes - central to the discussion of the Lege are misplaced priorities by Republicans and a slate of voter suppression bills, we talk about what's in them and why they're bad. Wesley and Diana weigh in on the experience of diving in at the Capitol - including a close encounter with Beto O'Rourke, and procedural shenanigans from State Rep. Briscoe Cain who shut down a hearing before hundreds of people could testify. We offer a preview on anti-abortion legislation, and then we wrap up by sharing our vaccine experiences - get your shots y'all! Thanks for listening, and be sure to sign our very important petitions!
Texas Republicans have launched an all out attack on our voting rights:https://progresstexas.org/blog/texas-republicans-have-launched-all-out-attack-our-voting-rights
Demand Dan Patrick stop attacking our reproductive rights: https://progresstexas.actionkit.com/sign/petition-demand-legislators-stop-attacking-abortion-care?source=actionpage
Stop the Texas GOP from outlawing 2020 voting innovations: https://progresstexas.actionkit.com/sign/petition-demand-republicans-end-their-attack-on-our-voting-rights?source=actionpage
Abortion is healthcare Act would remove decades of Texas restrictions: https://progresstexas.org/blog/abortion-healthcare-act-would-remove-decades-texas-restrictions
7 anti-abortion bills the Texas Senate is wasting time on instead of bills to help Texans: https://progresstexas.org/blog/7-anti-abortion-bills-texas-senate-wasting-time-instead-bills-help-texans
Not all emergencies are priorities at the Texas Capitol: https://www.texastribune.org/2021/03/24/texas-mass-shootings-guns
Senior Strategist Glenn Smith joins the weekly Happy Hour crew for this week’s rundown of the crazy world of Texas politics. GOP efforts in the Lege to undermine voting rights are troubling and reminiscent of the Jim Crow era. Republicans also continue their typical attacks on reproductive rights – all of this even as the people of Texas demand action from lawmakers on COVID. We’re also now seeing the effects of racist Republican language about the pandemic, exemplified by Chip Roy’s tirade this week in D.C., in a rise of anti-Asian violence, which must be countered by all of us - “if one person is in chains, we’re all in chains”. On a hopeful note, we celebrate the huge progress under President Biden in the national vaccination effort, as well as the months-long sacrifice of most Texans to protect their communities - in spite of Governor Abbott’s attempts to undermine safety precautions. And the conversation on Matthew McConaughey continues – politically, where is he exactly?
This week, the Progress Texas team reflects on the lessons of the pandemic, one full year in. We also talk Polling: what do Texans think about Greg Abbott, Ted Cruz, the recent energy crisis, priorities at the Lege, the assault on reproductive rights, and the Texas response to COVID? We find, once again, that Progressive values are mainstream values. President Biden's American Rescue Plan is now a reality - what's it mean for Texas families? And, will Matthew McConaughey run for Governor - and if he does, what's that mean for Texas Democrats?
Welcome to the Progress Texas podcast! This week we talk about what Gov. Greg Abbott must have been thinking in revoking mask mandates and reopening the state - while vaccination rates are only at 7%. We also explore ways that progressives in the Texas legislature are battling climate change and how you can get signed up to testify for the upcoming redistricting sessions. Enjoy and share with friends!