Lead Stories

Fed official still bracing for economic shock despite China tariff pause

A temporary reprieve in trade tensions between the United States and China has reduced, but not eliminated, the odds of a shock to the economy that carries a whiff of stagflation, a top official at the Federal Reserve warned on Monday. Austan D. Goolsbee, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, said tariffs and the uncertainty around President Trump’s policies still risked a combination of higher consumer prices and slower growth. Mr. Goolsbee welcomed the decision by the United States and China to lower tariffs on each other’s imported products for 90 days. But he said the temporary nature of the deal and the extent of the levies still in place would weigh significantly on the economy. “It is definitely less impactful stagflationarily than the path they were on,” Mr. Goolsbee, who is one of 12 Fed officials to vote on policy decisions this year, said in an interview. “Yet it’s three to five times higher than what it was before, so it is going to have a stagflationary impulse on the economy. It’s going to make growth slower and make prices rise.”

Under the agreement forged over the weekend, the United States reduced its tariff on Chinese imports to 30 percent from its current minimum 145 percent level, while China lowered its levy on American goods to 10 percent from 125 percent. Taking into account these reductions, as well as the tariffs that remain in place with nearly all of America’s trading partners, economists estimate that consumers still face an effective tariff rate of around 15 percent. The deal with China is the latest twist in what has been a tumultuous period for both the economy and global financial markets, as Mr. Trump has repeatedly changed which countries and products he wants to tariff and by how much. Before announcing the truce with China, the White House had also put in place a 90-day delay on so-called reciprocal tariffs that Mr. Trump had imposed on dozens of countries last month. These policies, plus shifting plans related to forthcoming tax cuts and other central pillars of Mr. Trump’s agenda, have upended forecasts for the economy. Officials at the Fed have for weeks warned that tariffs will stoke higher inflation and slower growth. What is unclear is the magnitude of the shock, which will depend on which tariffs will actually stay in place and for how long, as well as how consumers and businesses respond. Already, the uncertainty around these policies has started to have an impact. Surveys show that consumers have become increasingly downbeat about the economic outlook and that businesses are essentially frozen in place until there is more clarity about what Mr. Trump has planned.

Read this article at New York Times - Subscribers Only

Proposals to require judges to deny bail more often advance through House panel, signaling a broader agreement

A Texas House committee on Monday approved a revised package of legislation to require judges to deny bail to some criminal defendants, signaling that lawmakers may be nearing a deal to finally pass one of Gov. Greg Abbott’s top priorities over three straight legislative sessions. The House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee voted out two measures that would ask voters to amend the state Constitution to expand the list of violent offenses for which judges can deny bail, and to automatically deny bail to any undocumented immigrant accused of certain felonies. The panel also advanced an amended version of Senate Bill 9, which would enhance a 2021 state law that limited who is eligible for release from jail on a low-cost or cashless bond. Under the state Constitution, defendants, who are legally presumed innocent, are largely guaranteed the right to release before their cases are resolved — except in limited circumstances, such as when charged with capital murder.

The movement in the House suggests that top negotiators from both parties are closing in on an agreement with Abbott on a bail package that could muster the 100 votes needed in the House to put a constitutional amendment before voters. The package needs support from at least 12 House Democrats to pass if all 88 Republicans are on board. An agreement would likely clear away a legislative hurdle over which Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick had threatened to force a special session. Final approval by the Legislature would notch a massive victory for Abbott, who has made stiffening the state’s bail laws an emergency item for three consecutive sessions. Before this year, the effort died repeatedly in the House, with Democrats running out the clock or outright rejecting the proposals and denying the two-thirds support necessary to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot. The bipartisan buy-in also reflects the shifting politics of crime and immigration that have aligned some Democrats more closely with Republicans on proposals that civil rights advocates had hoped would be rejected altogether. The expansiveness of the measures, too, reveals the extent to which state lawmakers, under Abbott and Patrick, have swung toward a tough-on-crime approach to criminal justice reform, away from the years-long effort in Texas to reduce mass incarceration and reduce wealth-based detention.

Read this article at Texas Tribune - Subscribers Only

A fierce critic of the Texas lottery is now offering the embattled agency a lifeline

One of the Texas Lottery's leading critics in the Legislature filed an 11th-hour bill Monday to keep the embattled agency alive, though the proposal would transfer its oversight from the Lottery Commission to another state agency. State Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, earlier in the legislative session proposed measures to abolish the revenue-generating, state-run gaming operation and make clear that no game tickets could be bought or sold online. On Monday, however, he filed Senate Bill 3070, which would allow the games of chance to continue under the auspices of the Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation. The commission would also take over the operations of the state's charitable bingo games. In an interview after he filed the measure, Hall described SB 3070 as "an alternative" to shuttering the lottery and forgoing the revenue it brings to the state.

In an interview after he filed the measure, Hall described SB 3070 as "an alternative" to shuttering the lottery and forgoing the revenue it brings to the state. "It will be paring it down, limiting what (the lottery) can do," Hall said of the legislation. Under the bill, there would be limits on how many tickets can be purchased at one time by a player and that all sales would have to be made at a traditional "brick and mortar" retail store that is licensed to sell lottery tickets. And even though he filed the bill in the closing weeks of the legislative session, Hall said he expects quick action in the Senate. "It will be coming to the floor pretty quick," he said. Assuming it clears the Senate, the bill would have to be fast-tracked in the House to meet the legislative deadline. By turning the lottery over to the licensing and regulation agency, the five-member Lottery Commission would be dissolved. Both the members of the Lottery Commission and the Licensing and Regulation Commission are appointed by the governor and subject to confirmation of the Texas Senate.

Read this article at Austin American-Statesman - Subscribers Only

How Republican Medicaid cuts could impact Texas hospitals and patients

Texas hospitals are facing a freeze in billions of dollars in federal Medicaid funding under a budget proposal introduced by House Republican leaders Sunday night. Republicans are moving to limit access to a tax loophole that Texas and other states have used to tap extra Medicaid dollars for hospitals and medical providers. Texas hospitals would still be able to use so-called provider taxes to access higher federal reimbursements, but they couldn't be expanded, even as healthcare expenses continue to rise. "Ultimately it’s a cut to hospitals and other health care providers," said Darbin Wofford, deputy director of health care at the non-profit Third Way. "As hospitals costs grow and states want to increase base payments or supplemental payments, now you're tying the hands of the states."

The cuts come as House Republicans move to cut federal spending in line with President Donald Trump's plan to extend and expand tax cuts passed during his first term, which are set to expire later this year. The proposal Sunday also included a work requirements for Medicaid recipients, along with new protocols for patients to prove their eligibility. Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, defended the proposal as strengthening Medicaid for, "for children, mothers, people with disabilities and the elderly—for whom the program was designed." Democrats attacked the move, citing analysis by the Congressional Budget Office the changes to Medicaid would result in 8.6 million Americans losing coverage. "These would be devastating cuts, especially in a tough economy that’s shrinking," said U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio. The Medicaid cuts did not go as far as many Republicans would have liked. U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-San Antonio, criticized the budget proposal Monday morning as subsidizing, "healthy, able-bodied adults, corrupt blue states, and monopoly hospital CEOs." "I sure hope House & Senate leadership are coming up with a backup plan…. because I’m not here to rack up an additional $20 trillion in debt over 10 years," he wrote.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

State Stories

U.S.-Mexico water treaty under scrutiny as drought persists in South Texas

Farmers in South Texas celebrated earlier this month when the Trump administration announced it had struck a deal with Mexico to increase water releases into the Rio Grande. But it was nowhere near what Texas farmers were owed. With drought ongoing on both sides of the border — conditions that are only expected to worsen with climate change — the future of the more than 80-year-old treaty governing water rights between the two countries appears increasingly unstable. Some Texas lawmakers say it's time to redraw the terms of the deal so Mexico has to release water more frequently. The river's water is use to sustain a more than $800 million farming industry in South Texas that ships grapefruits, onions and other produce around the country.

"This has been a longstanding problem," U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said in an interview earlier this month. "The timing of water is critical to our farmers, so it doesn't do much good to get it at a time when frankly they don't need it as much." There's still a looming question about how much water will even be available to send. Scientists are projecting that not only will rainfall in South Texas and northern Mexico decline slightly in the decades ahead, but rising temperatures caused by climate change will increase evaporation rates, reducing the amount of water that ends up in the Rio Grande. "The Rio Grande is the most vulnerable river in Texas to climate change," said John Nielsen-Gammon, the Texas state climatologist. "When we look at projections, in most months the stream flow decreases. There's going to be months, one or two or four per decade, where the intensity in the rainfall increases the flow, but that's more erratic, which isn't good for farmers." The recent deal negotiated by the Trump calls for the release of more than 50,000 acre feet of water controlled by Mexico from the Amistad dam, along with an increase in water flows into the Rio Grande from seven tributaries on the Mexican side of the river, said Brian Jones, a farmer in Edcouch who sits on the board of the Texas Farm Bureau.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

Texas House votes to scrap STAAR exam in favor of shorter tests

The Texas House voted almost unanimously on Monday to scrap STAAR testing in favor of a series of shorter exams that public school students would take throughout the year. The plan, House Bill 4, is a priority for House Speaker Dustin Burrows that includes a replacement of STAAR as well as changes to the state’s A-F rating system for public schools. The plan would mark the most dramatic redesign of the state’s tests since STAAR was established in 2011 for public school students, including those in traditional ISDs and charters. State Rep. Brad Buckley, a Republican from Salado, said the lengthy tests don’t accurately measure knowledge or year-to-year growth and place too much pressure on students. His proposal cleared the chamber in a 143 to 1 vote with remarkably little debate for such a major bill, a signal of how discontent members of both parties have become with the tests.

“Today’s the day we return our schools into an environment where kids can learn and our teachers can teach,” Buckley said on the House floor to loud cheering from members of both parties. “This is something our school districts have been asking for for years.” The House must give final sign-off on Tuesday before the proposal heads to the Texas Senate, which has until the end of the month to consider the plan. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican who presides over the chamber, hasn’t weighed in on the STAAR overhaul. If the bill passes that chamber and is signed by Gov. Greg Abbott, changes would come by the beginning of the next school year. The legislation calls for doing away with the lengthy end-of-year exams in favor of three much shorter tests given at the beginning, middle and end of each school year, known as through-year testing. The state has been piloting a small through-year program since 2021. The bill mandates the first test be given around October, the second in January or February and the last in late May, near the end of the school year. The test’s length would range from 60 to 90 minutes, depending on grade level.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

David Feigen: For Mother’s Day, the Texas Legislature should invest in childcare

(David Feigen is the director of early learning policy at Texans Care for Children.) Like so many other Texas mothers, Kassandra Gonzalez hustles every day. She’s up early in the morning to drop off her two-year-old at his childcare center, giving him a big hug before he runs in to play with his friends. Then, Kassandra’s on the road to Texas State, where she’s taking a full load of classes with the goal of becoming a physical therapist. After class, she heads to her full-time job at a clinic. As soon as her shift is done, Kassandra scoops up her son and they spend the evening together before she puts him to bed and hits the books. What keeps her going? Kassandra says it’s all about giving her son the life he deserves. The training and education to be a physical therapist will give her a more stable career and give her son a stronger future. Meanwhile, the high-quality early learning experience he’s getting at his childcare center — storytime with his teachers, enriching conversations, fun art projects — means that in a couple of years, he will start school with the skills he needs to thrive.

Each day is a high-wire act. She says there’s one thing in particular that makes it work: Her childcare scholarship. The state’s Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) runs a highly effective program that offers childcare scholarships to working parents on a tight budget, like Kassandra. I’ve spoken with so many Texas parents of the approximately 150,000 children who are receiving a scholarship today. Each story is unique, but they all have a similar message. They are so thankful that they have been able to go to school and work to provide for their family — and place their child in a safe, nurturing childcare program — thanks to the scholarship. Unfortunately, about 95,000 Texas families are on the waiting list for a scholarship according to the latest state date. In many cases, they could expect to be on the list for years. That’s a lifetime when you’re talking about childcare. While they sit on the waiting list, many of them are unable to work enough hours to provide for their family. Childcare in Texas typically costs about as much as in-state tuition at UT-Austin, putting it out of reach for so many families. Texas families — and many of the businesses having trouble recruiting a stable workforce — have been pushing the Legislature to action. Fortunately, the Texas Legislature has heard the message. In fact, legislators are close to taking an historic step to improve access to childcare for Texas families. The Texas House approved a $100 million investment in about 10,000 additional childcare scholarships like the one that Kassandra receives.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

Qatari jet Trump wants as Air Force One is at San Antonio International

The super-luxury jet President Donald Trump says he’s accepting this week as a gift from the ruling family of Qatar is at San Antonio International Airport — and could be converted into a temporary Air Force One in the city. Trump, who has long griped about the age of the current Air Force One fleet and Boeing Co.’s long-overdue delivery of two new jets it’s been working on at Port San Antonio since the first Trump administration, apparently is going his own way. It’s a move that’s raised concerns about costs, security and, now, foreign influence.

Trump toured the Qatari jet in February when it touched down in West Palm Beach, Fla. At the time, he told reporters he’s “not happy” with Boeing and that his administration was considering doing “something else. Since then, the plane, registered as P4-HBJ, has disappeared from most airplane tracking services. Adding to the mystery is the fact 747 landings are rare at San Antonio International. The last one, an Atlas Air cargo plane, was reported in July. There is no record of another 747 arriving or departing since then. But a Boeing 747-8 with the same white, gray and burgundy paint scheme as those flown by the Qatari royal family was seen outside ST Engineering’s giant orange hangars at San Antonio International in early May. It appeared to have its tail number hidden and there was extra security nearby. An airport spokesperson confirmed the 13-year-old craft was at the ST facility as recently as May 8. By then, it appeared to have been moved into one of ST’s hangars.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

Galveston may be the Houston region’s biggest buyer’s market as a wave of Airbnbs floods listings

Linda and Greg Stickline’s Galveston home is a vision of Victorian charm, with powder blue trim and intricate woodwork framing a wide front porch. Tall windows allow sunshine to filter inside, catching the light of an ornate chandelier anchoring a high-ceiling entryway and grand wood staircase. Before the couple moved into the home in 2012, they spent two years and hundreds of thousands of dollars restoring the 100-year-old property, adding a modern kitchen and breezy backyard living space. But despite the home’s historic touches and its desirable location, the Sticklines haven’t been able to sell their six-bedroom home after more than 120 days on the market. And they’re not alone: the average Galveston home now sits on the market for over five months, as the beach town shifts into what may be the biggest buyer’s market in the Houston region. “We didn’t expect this,” said Linda Stickline, who has bought and sold multiple homes in the Houston area and Galveston over the years, always managing to sell quickly. Even after successful open houses, the Sticklines still haven’t received an offer. “This isn’t how it usually goes for us, so I think it’s a tough one.”

Although the $1.05 million asking price puts the home in the luxury range, the Sticklines’ broker, Tom Schwenk, said, “I don't think that the price is what's really stopping anyone anyway.” “Nobody’s really even looking,” Linda Stickline added. Sellers like the Sticklines are competing with a wave of vacation rentals hitting the market thanks to a surge in short-term rental owners looking to offload their properties. For some, the demands and costs of operating short-term rentals can outweigh the rewards. The number of homes for sale on Galveston Island has surged 42% in the past year – hitting about 1,000 listings in the first quarter, according to HAR. That’s more than double the number of homes for sale in the area two years ago, when there were just 431 homes for sale. The glut comes at a time of elevated mortgage rates and economic uncertainty, which have sidelined many buyers. Galveston now has nearly 17 months of housing supply, far beyond the 4 to 6 months considered a balanced market, according to the Houston Association of Realtors.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

Ed Hirs: Texas is failing to fix the grid (again)

(Hirs is a finance professional and economist in energy markets.) In Texas, electricity generating companies have no incentive to build enough power plants to keep the state online during periods of high demand – think hot August days or a winter freeze. For more than 25 years, the Texas Legislature has done nothing to address this fatal design flaw. The Texas grid managed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, ERCOT, is an “electricity only” grid, meaning generators only earn revenue when they are actively feeding electricity to the grid. It also means ERCOT, the only purchaser of electricity in the wholesale market, only buys electricity on a minute-by-minute basis, without regard for the investment that is needed to power the state’s growing economy. Before committing to build a natural gas power plant today, a company has to question what the ERCOT market will look like in the five years or more it will take to build the plant (which just got more expensive due to steel tariffs and a five-year backlog for gas turbines). Wind and solar farms require zero-cost fuel and few employees, so they will continue to displace more expensive coal and natural gas power plants in this minute-by-minute calculus. The obvious problem is that electricity from wind and solar farms is intermittent. Utility scale batteries will solve that problem in time, but not today.

Because the Texas government has consistently turned down commercial offers from investment groups to build new natural gas power plants, the state by default has gone all-in on the wind and solar farms that have exploded across the landscape. So what’s the Legislature doing? Of the bills pending now, one would require wind and solar farms to contract for backup supply from dispatchable power plants or batteries. But there already are too few coal, natural gas, and nuclear power plants to satisfy peak demand in Texas, and there’s certainly not enough to backstop the growing supply of wind and solar. The bill’s requirement cannot be met in a timely manner. Is the Legislature’s preferred solution really to impede wind and solar growth when everyone in Austin knows only wind and solar power helped the state avoid rolling blackouts over the past two summers and winters? The cost of this requirement would be borne by the new wind and solar farms, rather than spread across all consumers – making less investment in all modes of generation more likely just when the state needs more electricity. Another newly introduced bill that would provide hundreds of millions of tax dollars to nuclear power development is a tax-and-spend boondoggle. If started today, it would be years before new nuclear power could be added to the Texas grid. Texans need solutions now.

Read this article at Forbes - Subscribers Only

Texas bill could eliminate Dallas’ equity and inclusion office

Dallas’ Office of Equity and Inclusion, which was heavily featured in the region’s human rights proposal required to host next year’s FIFA World Cup, could be on the chopping block if a Texas Senate bill intended to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion departments in local governments becomes law. “The core of this is getting back to the fundamentals of hiring and having the best person for the job,” said Rep. Stan Gerdes, R-Bastrop, who introduced the bill on Monday in the House’s State Affairs Committee. The bill was advanced out of committee. The legislation seeks to ensure governments hire, train and promote employees based on “merits and qualifications” instead of “things like race, gender, background and other social context,” Gerdes said.

In Dallas, the equity office has been at the helm of data analysis, guiding where and how the City Council invests money to progress efforts in southern Dallas, south of Interstate 30, to bring parity in the quality of life and infrastructure development neighbors in the northern half of the city are more accustomed to. The department also investigates discrimination in housing and employment and oversees the implementation of a plan to improve ADA infrastructure. Opponents of the bill say its language is vague and broad and could go beyond just eliminating the department. They worry that the bill’s language will reverse the progress local governments have made in addressing disinvestment and neglect in underserved and underrepresented communities, which have been exacerbated by local redlining policies. Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Adam Bazaldua said the bill imposes administrative burdens on the city and creates confusion regarding compliance. At the same time, the city is looking for ways to balance its budget, and eliminating the office could make that job a bit easier. In the city’s current budget, officials reduced funding for the department by 25% from the previous year’s allocation. The department at the moment has 19 positions, according to the city’s budget, and at least three positions were reclassified into other departments.

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

Tarrant DA’s jail death stance questioned by A&M professors

The Tarrant County District Attorney’s interpretation of a state law mandating independent investigations of deaths in county jails would “gut” the statute, according to professors at the Texas A&M University School of Law. The District Attorney’s Office asked the Texas Attorney General’s Office in late March if the law requiring independent investigations into deaths in county jails applies only to those who die on jail premises. Such an interpretation would eliminate the need for an independent investigation if a person becomes hurt or ill in jail and dies at a hospital. At issue is Section 511.021 of the Texas Government Code, which directs the Texas Commission on Jail Standards to appoint an outside law enforcement agency to conduct an independent investigation into “the death of a prisoner in a county jail.”

Tarrant County District Attorney Phil Sorrells declined an interview request. His office sent the following statement: “This office is asking the Attorney General for guidance regarding the interpretation and application of a specific law.” While it previously told the Star-Telegram it is not advocating for either side of the issue, the District Attorney’s Office said in its request for opinion that the statute creates “debilitating staffing challenges” for sheriffs and investigating agencies, causing resources to be “needlessly” diverted to deaths that occur outside jail walls. Attorney General Ken Paxton did not respond to an interview request. In their brief, the A&M professors said the statute “requires an independent investigation of all deaths of individuals in the custody of a county jail.” The professors’ brief was one of 11 filed on the issue, all of which similarly requested the attorney general interpret the law in this manner. The Star-Telegram received them through an open records request to the attorney general’s office. Interpreting the law to only apply to people who die on jail property “would gut the investigation requirement of the Sandra Bland Act,” the brief states. Named after a Black woman who died in jail near Houston after being arrested over a traffic violation, the 2017 Sandra Bland Act sought to enshrine additional layers of accountability for how inmates are treated in jail, particularly those with mental health or intellectual disabilities. The professors countered an argument in the district attorney’s letter that narrows the scope of the law to people who are injured in a county jail and die offsite, saying this interpretation “would exempt the vast majority of deaths from any outside investigation.”

Read this article at Fort Worth Star-Telegram - Subscribers Only

Texas House OKs bill to expand medical marijuana provisions

A hefty expansion to the state’s narrow medical marijuana program won overwhelming approval in the Texas House on Monday, giving veterans broad access to THC treatments and raising the number of dispensaries allowed in the state. The bill also would nearly double the number of medical conditions non-veterans would now be eligible for treatment under the Texas Compassionate Use Program. That state initiative allows doctors to prescribe low-dose tetrahydrocannabinol – known as THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana plans — in cannabis oil or edibles. Military veterans would be given special access, and their doctors would be allowed under the law to prescribe low-dose THC for conditions that are not on the state’s list. The Texas Department of State Health Services also is given latitude in the bill to identify other conditions that may be added.

House Bill 46, by Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian, was approved on a 118-16 vote, prompting a cheer to rise from the House floor. It is expected to get final approval on Tuesday. The Texas Senate has passed its own version of a more broad program, allowing 11 dispensaries and letting them store off-site. It does not add anything new to the list of qualifying conditions. The legislation now heads into negotiations between the House and Senate over differences in the two versions. If they can come to a compromise, the deal will be sent to the governor’s desk. “This is an amazing alternative to addictive, harmful opioids, which we know is a huge problem. This bill empowers individuals and families to avoid those dangerous drugs,” said Rep. Christina Morales, D-Houston. “I am glad today that we’re voting for our veterans, rural communities and working families and taking a serious step against dangerous opioids.” About 12,000 people are involved in Texas’s Compassionate Use Program, which is run by the Department of Public Safety. The medical conditions covered by the program include post-traumatic stress disorder, epilepsy, cancer and multiple sclerosis. There are only three dispensaries in the state, and they are not allowed to store their inventory in off-site facilities.

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

Trials using psychedelic drug to treat trauma, addiction endorsed by Texas Legislature

U.S. Marine Cpl. Dakota Meyer, who once rescued three dozen people during a battle in the war-torn mountains of Afghanistan, was still in his 20s when the trauma came for him. Alcoholism, flashbacks, rages and midnight panic attacks wrecked his life, his marriage and his ability to parent his daughters. Then the Medal of Honor recipient traveled to Mexico to be treated with ibogaine — a centuries-old psychoactive drug derived from a plant indigenous to Central Africa, increasingly viewed by the medical and science community as the next big hope in trauma, depression, addiction and brain injury treatment. Meyer underwent one treatment session in 2019. And his life changed, almost overnight.

“It’s like going through years of therapy in one sitting. It’s a hard reset,” Meyer said in a recent committee hearing. “I‘ve never had an anxiety attack since. It saved my life. It gave my daughters their dad. And I’m now serving as a firefighter, as an author, and an entrepreneur, and a contributing citizen to my community. I’m present, I’m purposeful and I’m alive.” Now, Meyer and other advocates of ibogaine are pushing to bring clinical trials to Texas not only to help traumatized veterans and addicts who would participate, but also to build on the state’s vast medical research network to eventually make the treatment available in the U.S. On Monday, the Texas House overwhelmingly endorsed the idea with the 141-2 passage of a bill that would fund a grant program for research and medical trials of the treatment. “Texas stands at a crossroads, facing a tidal wave of heartbreak. Families torn apart by opioid addiction, veterans haunted by invisible scars and countless lives dimmed by despair,” said Rep. Cody Harris, R-Palestine, the bill’s House sponsor. “Ibogaine could be their miracle.”

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

Texas takes aim at ‘swipe’ fees, drawing ire from banks, credit issuers

Separate bills making their way through the Texas Legislature have banks and consumer advocates on edge, posing challenges to the state’s financial infrastructure and its pro-business bent. At issue are two sets of bills regulating credit card processing fees, which collectively set a record of nearly $188 billion last year, according to Nielsen Report data. While they can cost individuals hundreds of dollars per year in transaction fees, that money helps fund credit card perks and rewards programs that consumers have embraced. Texas’ efforts to regulate the fees may seem in the weeds, but proponents of the bill, like the Texas Restaurant Association, argue the fees are a burden for both consumers and merchants alike. Meanwhile, some critics say the downstream effects could seep into the everyday financial affairs of consumers — and risk Gov. Greg Abbott’s carefully cultivated pro-business stance.

The legislation has brought together an unlikely coalition of skeptics, including the leader of the largest bank in America. In a wide-ranging interview in March with reporters and editors from The Dallas Morning News, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said that he was “very bullish” on Texas. Still, the Wall Street veteran warned that various efforts in the Lone Star State to reform consumer banking “should be very thoughtfully done. Fix the problem, but don‘t make it so that banks don‘t want to bank here.” Credit card purchases involve at least a few parties: card-issuing institutions, banks and the firms accepting the payments on behalf of the merchants (the acquiring banks). Major financial institutions like JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and others are often involved on both sides, but there are also specialized services. Credit brands like American Express and Discover often serve as their own issuing banks. Meanwhile, firms like Fiserv and Stripe can serve as payment processors, a tech-based role that facilitates electronic transactions, and acquiring banks. When you swipe your card at a store, the store’s acquiring bank pays your issuing bank an interchange (or swipe) fee, which covers the cost of maintaining the credit card’s infrastructure and the risk banks incur by extending credit, among other things.

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

Texas House passes $315 million bill focused on students' early literacy, math skills

Texas lawmakers are seeking to support kindergarten readiness and bolster literacy and numeracy skills with legislation aimed at improving students’ reading and math knowledge in earlier grade levels. House Bill 123, which the lower chamber passed Wednesday with overwhelming bipartisan support, builds on previous legislation aimed at increasing teacher training and providing supports for students. The $315 million proposal would revise requirements for teachers to attend and complete literacy and numeracy academies and require skills assessments for students in Kindergarten through third grade. The bill would also mandate tutoring interventions for certain students, based on their performance on the assessments.

Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston, said the bill supports programming meant to strengthen basic skills for students early on to set them up for success later in their academic careers. “Between Pre-K and third grade, you learn to read, and after that, you read to learn,” Dutton said. “If you never learn to read, reading to learn is going to become next to impossible.” Only 41% of third graders met state standards for math and 49% met state standards in reading in 2024, according to results from the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness test. While reading has largely recovered from pandemic-era lows, math scores for third-grade students in Texas continue to struggle to meet pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, 48% of third graders met state standards. Some lawmakers raised concerns about increased mandates to test students. Required testing is a persistent debate among Texas parents, some of whom worry that state-required standardized tests can place undue stress on students.

Read this article at Austin American-Statesman - Subscribers Only

National Stories

Trump’s Middle East trip marked by potential private business conflicts

President Donald Trump kicks off the first major international trip of his second term Tuesday in a region where his family business has grown significantly in recent months, presenting his administration with more potential conflicts of interest than ever. The president’s sons, who head the Trump Organization, have spent the last few weeks crisscrossing the Middle East, laying the groundwork for deals that will benefit the company and, in some instances, Trump himself. Government watchdogs, presidential historians and other critics say it is an escalation of unethical and even unconstitutional conflicts between the interests of the United States and its president. A week before Trump was scheduled to land in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, his son, Eric, spoke to a crowded convention center in Dubai about the Trump Organization’s plans to build an 80-floor hotel and residential tower there. He boasted that the “incredible icon” would “redefine luxury” and have the highest infinity-edge pool in the world, overlooking the towering Burj Khalifa building.

“On behalf of myself, on behalf of my family,” he said, “we love Dubai. … We have such a great relationship between the United States and just one of the greatest places and I’m glad to call so many of you friends.” Trump’s relationship with the Gulf states offers insight into the instincts of a lifelong businessman who has made a career of selling. Trump has notably declined to duplicate his first-term pledge to not advance his personal business interests from the White House, but he has also managed to evade efforts by Congress and the courts to rein in his potential conflicts. Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump have appeared at events in the region to advance deals including cryptocurrency and luxury penthouses, signaling the family intends to continue to pursue international deals even as Trump leads U.S. foreign policy in the region. Qatar, where Trump is scheduled to visit Wednesday, has previously paid his attorney general, FBI director and head of the Environmental Protection Agency, among others, to lobby or consult on behalf of the country and its royal family, a Washington Post review of Foreign Agents Registration Act filings and disclosures found. Trump himself has appeared unconcerned about conflicts of interest. On Monday, he spoke glowingly of a $400 million Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet gifted from Qatar, which would become Air Force One for the duration of his presidency and then turned over to his presidential library foundation.

Read this article at Washington Post - Subscribers Only

Trump’s gifted Qatari 747 would be a security problem, officials say

President Donald Trump on Monday praised Qatar for offering his administration a free luxury jet, but current and former U.S. military, defense and Secret Service officials said he will likely have to waive existing security specifications to be able to use the plane. Trump said he would be a “stupid person” not to accept the gift of a $400 million Boeing 747-8, and called it a “great gesture” by Qatar. The president said that he intended to use the plane for a “couple of years” while his administration waits for a pair of Boeing planes to be completed to the strict military standards befitting Air Force One. A White House official said it was premature to say how long upgrades to the Qatari plane could take. The official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, like others interviewed, also declined to say when the Trump administration expects to take possession.

Flight records show that the Qatari jet was moved five weeks ago to San Antonio International Airport, suggesting that preparations for improvements might already be underway. The Wall Street Journal first reported this month that Trump had commissioned defense contractor L3Harris to retrofit the Qatari plane in Texas. ABC News reported Sunday that the plane would be transferred to the Trump administration as a gift. The lavishly appointed double-decker jet — originally purchased for use by the Qatari royal family — left Doha on March 30, making a stop at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and then at Bangor International Airport in Maine on April 2, according to Ian Petchenik, a spokesman for the flight tracking service FlightRadar24. The plane then flew to San Antonio the next day. Trump emphasized Monday that the Qatari jet is a significantly newer plane than the ones currently available for the president’s use, which — although fitted with state-of-the-art defensive countermeasures, in-flight refueling capability and secure communications equipment — date to the George H.W. Bush administration in the 1990s. “You know, we have an Air Force One that’s 40 years old. And if you take a look at that, compared to the new plane … it’s not even the same ballgame,” Trump told reporters. “You look at some of the Arab countries and the planes they have parked alongside of the United States of America plane — it’s like from a different planet.”

Read this article at Washington Post - Subscribers Only

Trump drug pricing proposal puts GOP senators in a tough spot

An executive order from President Trump aims to make deep cuts to prescription drug costs, putting GOP lawmakers who have traditionally opposed government-directed drug pricing in a tough position. Republican lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune (S.D.) and Senate GOP Whip John Barrasso (Wyo.), have warned in the past that directing the federal government to set drug prices will slow innovation and limit patients’ access to lifesaving therapies. Now they’re in the tough position of having to respond to Trump’s latest move, which would cut deeply into pharmaceutical companies’ profits.

The industry, which contributes generously to members of both parties, warns that Trump’s proposed reform could jeopardize hundreds of billions of dollars in research and development investments. Thune on Monday said that Trump’s executive order would be “fairly controversial” if put into legislation on Capitol Hill, reflecting his party’s longtime skepticism of using Medicare’s huge buying power to pressure drug companies to lower prices. “My assumption is that would be fairly controversial up here if we were doing it … legislatively,” Thune said of Trump’s executive order on drug pricing. Trump’s executive order directs the secretary of Health and Human Services to work with the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to “communicate most-favored-nation price targets to pharmaceutical manufacturers to bring prices for American patients in line with comparably developed nations.” It would cover drugs offered under Medicare and Medicaid, as well as those offered under private insurance.

Read this article at The Hill - Subscribers Only

Newark Liberty Airport suffers third system outage in less than 2 weeks, impacting hundreds of flights

Yet another equipment outage at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) caused widespread delays and a ground stop over the weekend. The Federal Aviation Administration said the third outage in less than two weeks happened Sunday morning after a backup air traffic control system momentarily failed. The FAA confirmed the latest system outage, but unlike the previous two out of the Philadelphia facility that controls Newark Liberty's operations, this one involved a momentary failure of a backup system, which prompted a 45-minute ground stop to ensure that system was back up and running properly. While the FAA said operations returned to normal, there was a domino effect with flights.

As of late Sunday night, there were more than 250 delays and at least 80 cancellations, impacting domestic and international flights. The one saving grace appears to be Mother's Day has resulted in less crowds at Terminal B. In addition to the system outages, Newark Liberty is also dealing with air traffic control staffing shortages. However, officials are assuring travelers that flights in and out of Newark are safe. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says a fix for the airport's problems is on the way, but in the coming weeks the number of flights will be cut. "We're going to have this reduced capacity at Newark. I'm convening a meeting of all the airlines that serve Newark, get them to agree on how they're gonna reduce the capacity," Duffy said. "We are building a new line that goes directly from Newark to the Philly TRACON, which controls the New York airspace. What happens now is it goes from Newark to N90, which is where it used to be controlled, and then down to Philly. That doesn't make sense. We're gonna have a direct line there." Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the feds need to prioritize fixing the situation at Newark Liberty before the problems start popping up elsewhere.

Read this article at CBS News - Subscribers Only

Democrats kick off 2028 shadow primary with contrasting styles

The shadow Democratic presidential primary is kicking off, with potential contenders ramping up their appearances in key battleground states. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is slated to take part in a VoteVets town hall in the early-contest state of Iowa on Tuesday, while Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) is set to headline the South Carolina Democratic Party’s Blue Palmetto Dinner later this month. And Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) attended a town hall in the critical swing county of Bucks County, Pa., on Saturday. The visits come as Democrats struggle to form a cohesive message in the second Trump era following a slew of losses in 2024. But the party’s strategists argue the emerging shadow primary is not as much about ideology but rather about who can land the most effective punch against Republicans.

“That’s where you’re seeing some of the cream rise to the top,” said Mike Nellis, a Democratic strategist and former senior adviser to former Vice President Kamala Harris. “Who understands this moment, can command attention and can move the ball forward?” Democrats have grappled with how to respond to President Trump and Republicans’ control of both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, but some of the potential 2028 hopefuls have already begun showcasing their responses. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) called for “mass protests, mobilization, and disruption” against the Trump administration, saying last month that “Republicans cannot know a moment of peace.” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) has taken a different approach. While Whitmer has been critical of Trump, she notably worked closely with him and Michigan Republicans to secure funding for Selfridge Air National Guard Base. Last month, Whitmer greeted Trump with a hug on the tarmac when he traveled to the state to announce the funding.

Read this article at The Hill - Subscribers Only

White South Africans granted refugee status by Trump administration arrive in US

A flight carrying a group of 59 White South Africans granted refugee status by the Trump administration arrived in the United States on Monday. They were the first people to be granted refugee status by the Trump administration and are not expected to be the last Afrikaners to come to the US. The South Africans, including children, were greeted upon their arrival at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia by US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar. The Trump administration has moved to not only admit but to expedite the processing of Afrikaners as refugees for alleged discrimination. At the same time, it has suspended all other refugee resettlement, including for people fleeing war and famine.

The policy of exempting only White South Africans from the indefinite pause has drawn criticism from the South African government and from refugee advocates. Landau told the new arrivals that the US was “excited” to have them, adding, “We respect what you had to deal with these last few years.” He noted that many of them are farmers and likened them to “quality seeds” that would hopefully “bloom” in the US. “We underscored for them that the American people are a welcoming and generous people, and we underscored the importance of assimilation into the United States, which is one of the very important factors that we look to in refugee admissions,” Landau told reporters after greeting the group. Landau claimed the Afrikaners had been “subject to very serious, egregious and targeted threats” and accused the South African government of failing to act. “The South African government has not done what we feel is appropriate to guarantee the rights of these citizens to live in peace with their fellow South Africans, which is why, under our domestic law, they were given refugee status,” Landau said.

Read this article at CNN - Subscribers Only

Lead Stories

Can Florida’s school vouchers program be a preview for Texas?

When Gov. Greg Abbott signed Texas’ billion-dollar school voucher plan into law this month, he said the program would immediately become one of the biggest in the nation. But Texas isn’t the first big state to launch a universal private school choice plan. In 2023, Florida lawmakers expanded an existing school voucher program, making every student in the state eligible to apply. Two years later, Florida’s program offers a preview of where Texas may be headed. Since the expansion, Florida’s program has been massively popular. This year, the number of Florida students receiving school vouchers surpassed 500,000. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has said that total represents about a third of the school vouchers awarded nationwide.

But that growth carries a high price tag. As students opt for private schools, school districts lose revenue. School leaders in Florida say shrinking budgets are already leading to program cuts, teacher layoffs and larger class sizes. Gov. Greg Abbott signed Texas’ new education savings account program into law earlier this month. The $1 billion voucher-like program will give families roughly $10,000 to put toward private school tuition. All students in the state are eligible to apply, as long as they are U.S. citizens or were admitted into the country lawfully. The bill had a long road to Abbott’s desk. Republican leaders have made the policy a priority for years, but they ran up against opposition from Democrats and rural Republicans, who worried such a program would drain money from public schools. But after a bill failed to pass the Texas House of Representatives in 2023, Abbott supported a slate of primary challengers looking to unseat anti-voucher Republicans. At a May 3 signing ceremony in Austin, Abbott told a crowd of supporters that the program would give families more freedom to decide how they want their children educated. The Texas plan immediately joins Florida’s as one of the nation’s biggest school choice programs. Florida has two main private school choice programs: Florida Tax Credit Scholarships and Family Empowerment Scholarships, both of which families can use to pay private school tuition. Both programs were originally targeted at helping students from low-income families get out of failing public schools. But in 2023, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill eliminating eligibility requirements, opening the program up to all students in the state.

Read this article at Fort Worth Star-Telegram - Subscribers Only

U.S. and China agree to temporarily slash tariffs in bid to defuse trade war

The United States and China said Monday they reached an agreement to temporarily reduce the punishing tariffs they have imposed on each other while they try to defuse the trade war threatening the world’s two largest economies. In a joint statement, the countries said they would suspend their respective tariffs for 90 days and continue negotiations they started this weekend. Under the agreement, the United States would reduce the tariff on Chinese imports to 30 percent from its current 145 percent, while China would lower its import duty on American goods to 10 percent from 125 percent. “We concluded that we have a shared interest,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at a news conference in Geneva where U.S. and Chinese officials met over the weekend. “The consensus from both delegations is that neither side wanted a decoupling,” he said.

China said it will suspend or revoke countermeasures adopted in retaliation for escalating tariffs. In early April, the Chinese government had ordered restrictions on the export of rare earth metals and magnets, critical components used by many industries, including automakers, aerospace manufacturers and semiconductor firms. Mr. Bessent said the two countries may discuss purchase agreements of American goods by the Chinese government. Such a deal could help narrow the American trade deficit with China. The agreement, for now, breaks an impasse that had brought much trade between China and the United States to a halt. Many American businesses had suspended orders, holding out hope that the two countries could strike a deal to lower the tariff rates. Economists have warned that the trade dispute will slow global growth, fuel inflation and create product shortages, potentially tipping the United States into a recession. Chinese factories also experienced a sharp decline in export orders to the United States, heaping additional pressure on a sluggish economy. Chinese producers looked to expand trade to Southeast Asia and other regions to circumvent the U.S. tariffs.

Read this article at New York Times - Subscribers Only

Republicans’ partial tax plan estimated to cost $5 trillion

An early version of the House GOP’s tax plan would cost nearly $5 trillion, according to a new estimate from Congress’s nonpartisan tax scorekeeper. The cost far exceeds what is permitted by the budget resolution Republicans adopted earlier this year, which set the parameters for the massive package of tax cuts and extensions, energy policy and border security investments the party wants to pass in the coming weeks. The estimate, released Saturday evening by the Joint Committee on Taxation, also underscores how much hinges on the final details of the plan, which are likely to be unveiled Monday afternoon ahead of a scheduled Tuesday markup by the House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.). The House Republican-approved budget allows for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts — contingent on the GOP being able to find $2 trillion in spending cuts. Speaker Mike Johnson indicated last week that House Republicans are looking at a skinnier, $4 trillion tax plan, paired with $1.5 trillion in spending cuts.

The partial text of the tax proposal released by the Ways and Means late Friday would make permanent the individual income tax rates, which are otherwise due to expire at the end of the year. It also would extend and temporarily boost far-reaching tax benefits like the standard deduction and the Child Tax Credit. But this early, so-called skinny version of the tax bill is otherwise silent on President Donald Trump’s biggest tax priorities he touted on the campaign trail, like his proposal to eliminate taxes on tips. It also bears no mention of the expensive business provisions that Republicans want to restore. The tax plan also doesn’t at this point include any mention of the state and local tax deduction prized by blue state Republicans in swing districts. Last week, a contingent of House Republicans from New York, New Jersey and California indicated that despite weeks of negotiations it was nowhere close to an agreement to lift the $10,000 cap on the deduction. Republicans established that cap in 2017, which helped raise an enormous amount of revenue for the massive tax bill of Trump’s first administration.

Read this article at Politico - Subscribers Only

Texas faces major housing market correction as prices drop across state

The Texas housing market is undergoing a substantial correction, driven by a combination of oversupply, declining demand and persistent affordability issues. "We need to talk about Texas. Listings just hit 123,000 in April 2025. 53 percent higher than normal. And prices are now dropping across the state," Nick Gerli, a real estate analyst and the CEO of Reventure App, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday. He warned that Texas is now the fourth most oversupplied housing market in the United States. Newsweek contacted the Texas Economic Development & Tourism Office for comment on Friday via email outside of regular office hours. Texas experienced a significant migration boom during the pandemic, attracting new residents with the promise of affordability, space and lower taxes. In 2022, net domestic migration brought 222,100 new residents to the state. However, by 2024, that number fell to 85,200, a 62 percent decline, according to Gerli. Additionally, Texas led the nation in homebuilding, issuing 15 percent of the country's new-home permits in 2024. But as population growth slowed and high mortgage rates locked out potential buyers, the increased supply outpaced demand, resulting in downward pressure on prices in major metropolitan areas such as Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.

Gerli argued the housing inventory increase is primarily fueled by three factors: a wave of resale of newly constructed homes, a decline in migration into the state and a growing number of locals being priced out of the market. "Values are down -0.7 percent over the last year, and have dropped -1.6 percent from the middle of 2022," Gerli wrote on X, adding in a separate post. "Buyer demand keeps dropping, and listings keep rising." According to data from Norada Real Estate Investments, home prices in 31 Texas metropolitan areas are expected to decline by the end of the year. Austin, one of the hardest-hit markets, is projected to experience a 0.4 percent home price drop by October. The city has also seen a 20.4 percent fall in home values from peak pandemic highs, Gerli said, adding, "That's the biggest metro-level correction in America in that timespan."

Read this article at Newsweek - Subscribers Only

State Stories

HISD teachers will make the same pay next school year unless new Texas bill funds raises

Houston ISD plans to pay its teachers in the 2025-26 school year the same as this school year, unless an anticipated Texas Senate bill gives teachers raises. Starting pay for a first-year teacher at a non-New Education System reform school will remain at $64,000. Senate Bill 26, authored by Houston-area state Sen. Brandon Creighton, would bring HISD teachers with three to four years of experience $2,500 raises and teachers with at least five years of experience would receive $5,500. In all, the bill would bring $38 million to the state's largest district by state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles' estimation. The compensation manual for 2025-26 at this time does not reflect this expected increase. "If that's the case, we will change the comp manual to increase," Miles said of the expected increase in early April. "Right now, if you look at our comp manual... the salary schedule that's in there right now is going to be the same as this year. Because I don't want to say it's going to go up (amounts in the bill) unless the state legislature passes."

The district has not yet released its compensation plan for the upcoming school year despite Miles saying in early April it would be released in mid-April. Like the prior school year, the district's 2025-26 compensation plan will list higher salaries for New Education System (NES) teachers executing Miles' reforms than those outside the system. NES elementary teachers make an average of $75,478 with zero to two years of experience, while NES middle and high school teachers make averages of $80,059 and $82,780 with that same level of experience, according to the 2024-25 compensation plan. Teachers outside of the 130 NES schools, comprising about half the district, will receive a 10-month salary starting pay of $64,000. Their salary schedule is based on years of experience with incremental boosts in pay, where a three-year teacher on a 10-month salary makes $65,500, a five-year teacher makes $66,000 and a 10-year teacher makes $69,000. Special education teachers outside the system are on a salary schedule based on years of experience, the 2024-25 compensation plan shows. The district will move away from experience-based salary schedules and link compensation to performance in 2026-27, which Miles called the largest school district pay-for-performance program in the nation and one of "the few true pay-for-performance plans in the nation." Under that system, a teacher could make as much as around $100,000. Evaluations conducted in 2025-26 will determine teachers' pay the following year.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

New role would boost Jasmine Crockett as face of Democrats’ opposition to Trump

U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett may run for a new position that would super-charge her prominent role among Democrats pushing back on President Donald Trump’s second-term agenda. The sophomore Dallas congresswoman has been sounding out colleagues about succeeding Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia as the top Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Connolly is battling esophageal cancer and not running for reelection. He turned the ranking position over to Rep. Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts on an interim basis. While Crockett and other Democrats say that means there is no official race for the position now, those interested have begun testing the waters.

Crockett is the panel’s vice ranking member and a recent subcommittee hearing on transgender athletes in women’s sports served as a preview of how she might handle the top spot. She accused Republicans of focusing on transgender athletes to deflect attention from broader policy goals and shield the Trump administration from legitimate investigations. “Don’t let these hearings distract you from their destruction,” Crockett said. “This is rage baiting instead of conducting oversight over the issues that Americans actually care about.” If Democrats regain the House majority in the midterm elections in 2026, the ranking member would be in a position to take over as chair of the committee and to be a significant thorn in the administration’s side. U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., was seen as a candidate who could have cleared the field, but she took herself out of consideration. Crockett said late last week the situation became more complicated after a more senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus, Rep. Kweisi Mfume of Maryland, indicated he might seek the post.

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

Texas House bill would expand state's medical marijuana program

David Bass served in the Army for 25 years and retired as a major. When he returned from Iraq, he said he had strange symptoms that he did not understand. "I was hyper vigilant, had trouble sleeping, had nightmares about some things that happened in Iraq," Bass said. Doctors diagnosed Bass with post-traumatic stress disorder, and he turned to medical cannabis for help. "Cannabis controlled the symptoms of paranoia, anger outbursts. I sleep perfectly for eight hours every night. The nightmares about Iraq went away," Bass said. Dr. Matthew Brimberry is a palliative care physician in Austin. When it comes to his patients, he likens the effects of medical cannabis to a "series of small miracles." "They're able to have a better life without all that sedating medication," Dr. Brimberry said. Now, Bass and Dr. Brimberry are focused on helping other patients and say House Bill 46 would help more people. The bill is up for a House vote on Monday.

The bill allows patients to use products like cannabis patches and lotions as well as prescribed inhalers and vaping devices. If it passes, the list of qualifying conditions would also expand. People suffering from chronic pain, traumatic brain injury, Crohn's disease or degenerative disc disease could benefit. The bill also lets licensed dispensing organizations open more satellite locations, which advocates say could save patients time and energy. The bill would also allow DPS to issue more dispensing licenses. "We have patients that are in the Panhandle and in West Texas and have a hard time getting their medicine," Dr. Brimberry said. "Cannabis is medicine, so let's treat it as medicine. And so for me and many other veterans, cannabis has been life-changing," Bass said. Now, there is a hope to expand the list of changed lives. If passed, the bill goes into effect on Sept. 1.

Read this article at KVUE - Subscribers Only

Texas considers new penalties for zoo trespassers under proposed legislation

Bills introduced in the Texas House and Senate would create a new criminal offense for trespassing in animal enclosures at zoos, aquariums and other facilities that house animals. HB 1720 and SB 2969 propose that a person who knowingly enters an animal's enclosure without legal authority or the facility’s consent would be guilty of a state jail felony. The legislation specifically targets areas designed to restrict access and contain animals for their protection and the safety of the public. The bill further increases penalties if the trespasser harasses the animal, resulting in injury or death. In those cases, the offense would be elevated to a third-degree felony.

The bill is a bipartisan effort. Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, D-San Antonio, introduced the bill in the House, and Sen. Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound, filed the companion bill in the Senate. Zoo break-ins have occurred in Texas fairly recently, particularly in Dallas. Two years ago, a man broke into the Dallas Zoo and stole two emperor tamarins from their enclosure. The man allegedly hopped the zoo's fence at night and cut a mesh barrier to enter the monkeys' habitat. He was also accused of cutting a fence to release a clouded leopard named Nova. The monkeys and leopard were all found safe, but the man accused faced six counts of animal cruelty. In 2024, he was found incompetent to stand trial on those charges, but still faces two burglary charges. The bill outlines limited legal defenses, including if a person entered an enclosure to assist someone in distress or to protect an animal. If passed, the legislation would take effect on Sept. 1, 2025.

Read this article at WFAA - Subscribers Only

Houston pitcher McCullers receives death threats directed at his children after tough start

Houston pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. said he received online death threats directed at his children after his tough start Saturday night against the Cincinnati Reds. McCullers, who was making just his second start since Game 3 of the 2022 World Series, allowed seven runs while getting just one out in Houston’s 13-9 loss. Afterward, McCullers said he had received the threats on social media. “I understand people are very passionate and people love the Astros and love sports, but threatening to find my kids and murder them is a little bit tough to deal with,” he said. “So just as a father I think there have been many, many threats over the years aimed at me mostly, and I think actually one or two people from other issues around baseball actually had to go to jail for things like that. But I think bringing kids into the equation, threatening to find them or next time they see us in public, they’re gonna stab my kids to death, things like that, it’s tough to hear as a dad.”

The Astros said that the Houston Police Department and MLB security had been alerted to the threats. McCullers and his wife Kara have two young daughters. A visibly upset manager Joe Espada addressed the threats at his postgame news conference and added that they were also threatening the pitcher’s life. “There are people who are threatening his life and the life of his kids because of his performance,” Espada said. “It is very unfortunate that we have to deal with this. After all he’s done for this city, for his team, the fact that we have to talk about that in my office — I got kids too and it really drives me nuts that we have to deal with this. Very sad, very, very sad.” McCullers, who has had numerous injuries that have kept him off the field in the last couple of seasons, said it’s difficult to have to deal with threats on top of trying to return to form on the mound.

Read this article at Associated Press - Subscribers Only

Texas Supreme Court dismisses lawsuit over 2018 Home Depot shooting that killed Dallas officer

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a lawsuit determining whether an off duty Dallas police officer’s conduct was within the scope of his employment. The higher court’s decision reinforces the legal protections for police officers when performing official duties – even while off-duty – and protects businesses and individuals from civil claims if a police officer is injured when responding to suspected crimes. A central issue in the case was whether off-duty Dallas police officer Chad Seward, who was working as a security guard for Hope Depot at the time, was performing official police duties when he confirmed a warrant on Armando Luis Juarez, who opened fire on officers soon after.

“Objectively, Seward was doing his job and performing his peace-officer duties to prevent or suppress a specific offense against property that he had reasonable suspicion a person in his presence was committing or about to commit,” Justice John Devine wrote on behalf of the court. In an opinion released Friday, Devine argued Seward had reasonable suspicion that Juarez was committing theft. He also said that under Texas law, an officer has a “statutory duty” to interfere and prevent a suspected crime – even when off duty and in private employment. The higher court also agreed to adopt a principle known as the “firefighter’s rule.” It's a legal restriction that prevents emergency responders from suing over things that happen in the line of duty and protects Home Depot from suit. Scott Palmer -- an attorney for the Santander family called the rule dangerous for first responders in an email to KERA News.

Read this article at KERA - Subscribers Only

Texas Climate Office briefly went dark last month. Here's why that's troubling.

Last month, in the upheaval of widespread federal job cuts, a crucial resource for Texas ranchers and farmers briefly suspended operations. Although the Texas Climate Office is back at work, the agency’s role continues to be critical to Texas, and here’s why. One vital role played by the Texas Climate Office and the Southern Regional Climate Center is providing detailed drought severity information at the county level using weather and climate data. Without this input, the accuracy of the U.S. Drought Monitor, which collects drought data and releases updates to the public every Thursday, would be significantly reduced. The drought data the agency supplies directly influences how ranchers can be eligible for drought relief money from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, explained John Nielsen-Gammon, state climatologist and director of the SRCC at Texas A&M University in College Station.

The Southern Regional Climate Center serves Texas, its neighboring states like Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana, as well as Mississippi and Tennessee. It specializes in providing climate data services with a focus on water resources and coastal resiliency. The SRCC also collaborates with the Midwest, High Plains, and Southeast regional climate centers to gather weather data across 21 states, and they share drought condition information, which is crucial for the nation’s researchers, scientists, farmers and ranchers. Nielsen-Gammon also touted how the agency’s program makes climate data easy to access, use and interpret through tools like the Integrated Water Portal and the Applied Climate Information System. “Right now, I’m spending a couple of days estimating precipitation values to give a more accurate precipitation trend in the Highland Lakes watershed (feeding the Colorado River),” he said. “Using ACIS, I can easily map which stations reported data in any given year and access that data immediately, spotting and filling in data gaps.”

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

Dallas Morning News Editorial: A life-saving tool stalled, again, in the Texas Senate

The Texas Senate can’t get past a psychological hurdle that will help with fentanyl overdose deaths. A bill legalizing fentanyl test strips is, again, lingering after approval in the House. Despite support from Gov. Greg Abbott, this bill’s fate is written. Too bad; we could’ve saved some lives. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who decides what bills get heard in the Senate, has so far shown no interest. There is also a belief among some members of the Texas GOP that testing strips somehow incentivize addiction, at least this is what we heard in 2023, when a similar proposal cleared the House but was later ignored by the upper chamber. State Sen. Pete Flores, R-Pleasanton, and chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee, did not respond to our request for comment regarding this bill. Other members remain uncommitted on the subject.

The Texas House is a different story. House Bill 1644, by state Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress, passed unanimously last month. Oliverson’s bill would legalize testing equipment for fentanyl and xylazine — a veterinary sedative commonly used with illicit drugs — from the list of banned drug paraphernalia. Oliverson, a physician, believes that testing strips are like mine detectors. “Most of the people in our state who have been and are still dying from fentanyl overdose are dying because they didn’t know they were coming into contact with fentanyl,” he told his colleagues at the House. The one-pill-can-kill epidemic has claimed the lives of more than 7,000 Texans since 2019. The good news is that overdose deaths nationwide are down and, in Texas, there is a 43% decrease in fentanyl-related deaths since 2023. This was the result of awareness campaigns and effective public policies, including the wide availability of naloxone (NARCAN), a medication that reverses opioid overdoses. While it can be argued that legalizing test strips is not as urgent as it was in 2023, fentanyl deaths are still happening, and we need all the tools we can get. Legalizing fentanyl test strips, however, remains elusive. Once wet, these paper strips help addicts identify the presence of this deadly drug. Studies have shown a positive change in overdose risk behavior among drug users when they have access to testing strips. Testing strips are a harm-reduction tool but also an indirect path to rehab programs since they are usually obtained through community outreach initiatives that also provide counseling and access to treatment resources.

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

Cook Children’s warns of Medicaid coverage disruption

Nearly 2 million Texas children and expecting mothers could face disruptions in their health coverage if the state Legislature fails to act on a pair of bills in the coming weeks, according to Cook Children’s Health Plan. The health plan run by the Fort Worth-based children’s hospital warned of a “looming crisis,” saying in a press release Friday that “recent legislative inaction” threatens the health coverage of 1.8 million children and expecting mothers, 125,000 of which are within the plan’s Tarrant County service area. Bills brought by state Rep. Charlie Geren, a Fort Worth Republican, and state Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, a Democrat from Corpus Christi, aim to change how the Texas Health and Human Services Commission awards contracts for the management of Medicaid programs that provide coverage to low-income families. Medicaid’s STAR program covers children in low-income families and the CHIP program provides coverage to families whose income is too high to qualify for STAR but who cannot afford private health insurance.

The bills address what Cook Children’s called a “flawed procurement process” by the health commission that “inexplicably favored large, for-profit, out-of-state national plans over established local children’s health plans.” Cook Children’s said it hopes lawmakers will advance the legislation before the session ends June 2. Last year, the health commission declined to award the Medicaid contracts to Cook Children’s and two other nonprofit plans run by Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi and Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, choosing instead for-profit insurers like Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, UnitedHealthcare and others. The Texas-based organizations have a better track record of serving these vulnerable populations, delivering high-quality care and maintaining high levels of patient, physician and provider satisfaction, the hospital said. If the awards that the state announced last year go into effect, the new contracts will require 1.8 million children and pregnant women across Texas to have to choose new health plans, most of which are run by out-of-state companies. “The potential consequences of inaction are dire, inevitably leading to further costly litigation and, more importantly, threatening to disrupt the vital health care services that countless Texas children and their families depend upon,” Cook Children’s said.

Read this article at Fort Worth Star-Telegram - Subscribers Only

Fred Cerise: What Medicaid cuts really mean for American health

(Fred Cerise is president and CEO of Parkland Health.) Congress is contemplating a proposal to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from the Medicaid program while also committing to not directly cut Medicaid services. In the desire of some policymakers to support two opposing policy positions simultaneously, many of us fear that they will be deceived into accepting a simplistic explanation that such a cut will not impact the millions of beneficiaries who depend on Medicaid. Some policymakers are suggesting that these dollars can come from identifying fraud, waste and abuse without cutting Medicaid itself. Eliminating fraud and abuse wherever it exists is important. Significantly more common than outright fraud are improper payments, mostly due to documentation issues, and that amount ($31 billion or 5% of overall federal payments) does not come close to the hundreds of billions in Medicaid cuts proposed to address fraud. Medicaid is a state-federal partnership to provide health insurance with eligibility that varies by state.

In Texas, Medicaid covers low-income pregnant women, children, individuals with disabilities, and nursing home residents. Medicaid financing is complex. It is this complexity that will allow policymakers to assert they can cut dramatic sums of funding without cutting the program. Here is one example. Every state must put up money to receive federal matching funds. Rather than relying solely on state general revenue, 49 states levy taxes on health care entities (e.g., hospitals, nursing homes, insurance companies) to help fund the state share. Often, these entities volunteer to be taxed because the federal money that the state share generates comes back to them in the form of higher Medicaid payments. This financing mechanism commonly used by states to fund their Medicaid programs is legal and patients in these states depend heavily on the federal funds raised to fund their Medicaid programs. Some people think these funding mechanisms allow states to draw federal funds without putting up their legitimate share of state funds, and they would like to see that end. That is a reasonable position to take. What is not reasonable is to suggest that by eliminating this funding mechanism, the result will be to cut out fraud and not to cut Medicaid. The truth is, that by eliminating this funding mechanism, states will lose billions in federal funding. States must react by either raising taxes to maintain services or taking actions that will reduce access to care such as cutting Medicaid rolls, reducing services offered, or reducing provider payments. Proponents anticipate that states will not replace the provider tax revenue with state or local funds. This means there will be billions less in the Medicaid program and people will ultimately have trouble accessing lifesaving care.

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

Houston-area schools warn parents about Chromebook Challenge damaging school property

Some Houston-area schools are warning parents that they’ll have to pay for computers damaged by students copying a viral TikTok trend. The Chromebook Challenge has gained traction on social media sites like TikTok and encourages students to shove metal objects, such as lead pencils or paperclips, into the ports of school-issued laptops, which can lead to sparks, smoke and even fires. In an email sent to parents this week and obtained by the Chronicle, Pearland ISD warned parents and guardians that they would be financially responsible for replacing any school-issued equipment that is intentionally damaged.

"We want to be clear that Pearland ISD takes such matters seriously," the email reads. At least one other school has issued a similar note to parents, saying, "These devices are resources for learning that we use daily and their misuse disrupts the educational environment and poses a safety hazard." Instances of students participating in the Chromebook Challenge have been reported around the country. In Maryland, the Office of the State Fire Marshal said several fires were started as a result of the challenge. Schools in Colorado also issued warnings about the dangers associated with the challenge after the Colorado Springs Fire Department reported at least 16 incidents related to students attempting to destroy school laptops, Axios Denver reported.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

'A huge jump': S.A. school districts face soaring demand for special education

As a little kid, Sophia Munson loved to perform. She would often steal her mother’s high heels and dance around the living room like it was a stage, singing Spice Girls songs into whatever nearby object resembled a microphone. She was always filming silly videos with her older brother, riding her bike or goofing around with her friends. She was also an avid swimmer and dreamed of becoming a star cheerleader in high school. That was before Memorial Day weekend in 2019, when Sophia suffered a stroke and traumatic brain injury in a car accident. Now, the 16-year-old is confined to her wheelchair. Her visits to the pool are reserved for recreational therapy. “She has short-term memory loss, so she will remember things for a little bit. But unfortunately, with education, she’s not learning much anymore,” said Sophia’s mother, Jackie Martinez-Munson. “What I send her to school for is the social skills, to be with her friends and to keep doing therapies.” Sophia was one of nearly 765,000 Texas students who received special education services last year, according to state data. That total, a record high, marks a 32% increase in the number of public school students with disabilities since before the 2020 start of the pandemic.

School officials say parents' heightened awareness, improved testing procedures and pandemic-era learning losses have contributed to the spike in students requiring specialized instruction. So has a new law that puts the state’s swelling dyslexic population under the vast umbrella of special education, in addition to changes in state rules and regulations. In San Antonio, public schools are struggling to meet the rising demand for special education amid an ongoing staffing shortage and stagnant state funding. Unable to hire enough special education teachers, paraprofessionals, school psychologists and speech pathologists, districts have had to rely on costly contracts with third-party agencies to fill vacancies — even as they grapple with record budget deficits. An exodus of special educators has exacerbated the problem, leaving remaining employees with bigger caseloads and undermining the consistency high-need students often require in the classroom — such as interacting with the same teacher at the same time of day. Understaffed and overwhelmed with requests for evaluations, school officials say they need more money to do their jobs right.

Read this article at San Antonio Express-News - Subscribers Only

National Stories

Trump administration poised to accept 'palace in the sky' as a gift for Trump from Qatar: Sources

In what may be the most valuable gift ever extended to the United States from a foreign government, the Trump administration is preparing to accept a super luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from the royal family of Qatar -- a gift that is to be available for use by President Donald Trump as the new Air Force One until shortly before he leaves office, at which time ownership of the plane will be transferred to the Trump presidential library foundation, sources familiar with the proposed arrangement told ABC News. The gift had been expected to be announced next week, when Trump visits Qatar on the first foreign trip of his second term, according to sources familiar with the plans. But a senior White House official said the gift will not be presented or gifted while the president is in Qatar this week. In a social media post Sunday night, Trump confirmed his administration was preparing to accept the aircraft, calling it a "very public and transparent transaction" with the Defense Department.

Trump had previously toured the plane, which is so opulently configured it is known as "a flying palace," while it was parked at the West Palm Beach International Airport in February. The highly unusual -- unprecedented -- arrangement is sure to raise questions about whether it is legal for the Trump administration, and ultimately, the Trump presidential library foundation, to accept such a valuable gift from a foreign power. Anticipating those questions, sources told ABC News that lawyers for the White House counsel's office and the Department of Justice drafted an analysis for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth concluding that is legal for the Department of Defense to accept the aircraft as a gift and later turn it over to the Trump library, and that it does not violate laws against bribery or the Constitution's prohibition (the emoluments clause) of any U.S. government official accepting gifts "from any King, Prince or foreign State." Sources told ABC News that Attorney General Pam Bondi and Trump's top White House lawyer David Warrington concluded it would be "legally permissible" for the donation of the aircraft to be conditioned on transferring its ownership to Trump's presidential library before the end of his term, according to sources familiar with their determination.

Read this article at ABC News - Subscribers Only

Trump announces he’ll sign executive order that aims to cut drug prices

President Donald Trump announced Sunday that he plans to resurrect a controversial policy from his first term that aims to reduce drug costs by basing payments for certain medicines on their prices in other countries. His prior rule, called “Most Favored Nation,” was finalized in late 2020 but blocked by federal courts and rescinded by then-President Joe Biden in 2021. It would have applied to Medicare payments for certain drugs administered in doctors’ offices. However, it is unclear what payments or drugs the new directive would apply to. In a Truth Social post Sunday evening, Trump said he plans to sign an executive order Monday morning that he argues would drastically lower drug prices.

“I will be signing one of the most consequential Executive Orders in our Country’s history. Prescription Drug and Pharmaceutical prices will be REDUCED, almost immediately, by 30% to 80%,” he wrote. “I will be instituting a MOST FAVORED NATION’S POLICY whereby the United States will pay the same price as the Nation that pays the lowest price anywhere in the World.” The directive comes as the Trump administration is also looking to impose tariffs on pharmaceutical imports, which had been exempted from such levies enacted during the president’s first term. The tariffs could exacerbate shortages of certain drugs, particularly generic medicines, and eventually raise prices. If the new executive order is comparable to the 2020 rule, both Medicare and its beneficiaries could see savings. But it could also limit patients’ access to medications, experts said. Much depends on how the policy is structured. At least one health care policy analyst threw cold water on Trump’s claim that his latest effort would greatly reduce drug costs.

Read this article at CNN - Subscribers Only

Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander to be released Monday, Hamas says

Hamas said early Monday that it will release Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, who is believed to be the last living U.S. citizen held captive in Gaza by the Palestinian militant group, in the coming hours. “The Al-Qassam Brigades have decided to release the captive Zionist soldier who holds American citizenship, “Idan Alexander,” today, Monday, May 12, 2025,” a Hamas spokesperson Abu Obaida said in a brief statement on Telegram early Monday. Hamas had previously suggested such a release would be a signal of good faith as part of “the steps being taken to achieve a ceasefire, open the crossings, and allow aid” into the Gaza Strip.

If successful, the release will come the day before President Donald Trump is set to travel to the Middle East in a trip that is expected to intensify efforts to bring a pause to Israel's sweeping military offensive in Gaza, from which aid has been cut off for several weeks. Trump's trip is not expected to include a stop in Israel. Israel on Monday paused its military operation in Gaza ahead of Alexander’s release, including air strikes and drone artillery, according to NBC News' crew on the ground. But the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement Monday that it was committing only to a safe corridor to allow Alexander’s release, rather than any ceasefire or release of Palestinian prisoners or detainees. “We are in critical days, during which Hamas has a proposal before it that would allow for the release of our hostages,” the statement said, adding, “Negotiations will continue under fire and alongside preparations to intensify the fighting.”

Read this article at NBC News - Subscribers Only

Attorneys in Sean Combs' case set to present dueling narratives in trial openings

Sean “Diddy” Combs long styled himself as a king of American hip-hop, cultivating a public image as a rap hitmaker and savvy entrepreneur whose influence stretched across entertainment, fashion and business. But when opening statements start Monday in Combs’ federal sex trafficking trial in New York City, lawyers on opposite sides of the case will portray him in dramatically contrasting terms, underscoring how he has lost control of a reputation he once fiercely protected. The federal prosecutors behind United States v. Combs plan to portray him as the ringleader of a sprawling criminal conspiracy, a serial abuser who used violence and threats to force women to participate in drug-fueled sexual encounters known as “freak offs.”

Combs’ defense lawyers are expected to forcefully reject that depiction, arguing he is being unjustly persecuted for consensual sexual activities with romantic partners. Combs has pleaded not guilty to five criminal counts, including racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. In the end, a jury of 12 everyday New Yorkers will decide whether to convict Combs based in part on which narrative they believe. Rachel Maimin, a former federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, said she believes Combs’ accusers’ testimony will be the single strongest element of the government’s case. At least three women who say they were victims are expected to take the stand during the eight-week trial. “Victim testimony is always powerful, and it goes to the core of the case here, because the defense wants to prove all of these events were consensual,” said Maimin, whose record includes prosecuting criminal organizations engaged in racketeering.

Read this article at NBC News - Subscribers Only

Did you shoot somebody in self-defense? There’s an insurance policy for that.

The number of Americans buying self-defense insurance—dubbed “murder insurance” by critics who believe it can encourage the use of deadly force—has soared in recent years. About two million people have signed up, according to industry executives, some of whom estimate their membership has doubled in the past five years. The insurers offer a range of services, including bail and criminal-defense lawyers. Some also cover the cost of litigating civil lawsuits brought by victims of the shootings. The policies aren’t limited to shooting incidents; most companies will cover a member charged with other crimes, such as threatening somebody with a gun, so long as there’s a plausible self-defense claim. Many companies offer upgraded plans that can include crime-scene cleanup costs (in-home or vehicle), TSA-violation expenses, accidental-discharge costs and coverage for spouses and minor children.

USCCA and rival U.S. Law Shield are the industry giants, but there are about a half dozen midsize and small players. They charge monthly fees ranging from about $11 to $59. The companies’ marketing campaigns, which sometimes involve gun giveaways, include video testimonials from satisfied customers who shot in self-defense and got off, usually with no penalty. “There’s literally thousands of cases that have gone to trial that we have defended our members and exonerated them from charges,” said Tim Schmidt, USCCA’s founder and owner. The fine print of their policies, however, shows the companies usually have wide latitude to reject a member’s claim, sometimes launching their own investigations to decide if it is legitimate. Some plans won’t cover a member who is intoxicated during an incident, or if it involves shooting a family member. Many restrict members to their own stable of attorneys. USCCA’s policy says coverage ends if a member claims self-defense but is convicted of a violent crime. The policy also says its insurer can claw back legal fees or other expenses—although the company says it never has done so.

Read this article at Wall Street Journal - Subscribers Only

Senate Democrats worried about Fetterman discussing ways to help

Democratic senators are having private conversations about how to help Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) in the wake of an explosive report that the first-term Pennsylvania senator is behaving erratically and in a way that may pose a danger to himself or others, according to sources familiar with those discussions. Two Democratic senators told The Hill they are talking with colleagues about how to best help Fetterman, who they fear is struggling to cope with the emotional rigors of serving in Congress, a stressful job even for the fittest individuals who often find themselves the targets of political attacks. “Every time I see him, I’m worried about him,” said a Democratic senator who requested anonymity.

The senator cited a recent report in New York Magazine that Fetterman’s former chief of staff alerted the senator’s doctor at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center that he was “on a bad trajectory” and might not “be with us for much longer” unless something changes. “I know we’re all in touch with each other having conversations about how to intervene. I haven’t heard anybody say they’re not worried about it,” the senator said of the discussions among senators about how to help Fetterman. “People are trying to figure out what to do. People are worried about his safety,” the lawmaker added. A second Democratic senator, who also requested anonymity, described being “involved in discussions” about how to help Fetterman.

Read this article at The Hill - Subscribers Only

RFK Jr., DOGE gutted legally required offices. Courts may undo it all.

The Trump administration’s purge of the health department is cutting so deep that it has incapacitated congressionally mandated programs and triggered legal challenges. The administration insists the cuts are a lawful “streamlining” of a “bloated” agency, but federal workers, Democratic lawmakers, state officials and independent legal experts say keeping offices afloat in name only – with minimal or no staff – is an unconstitutional power grab. While agencies have some discretion over how to fulfill Congress’s demands, the upheaval inside the Department of Health and Human Services has claimed a host of programs the agency is required by Congress to maintain — cuts that are especially vulnerable to lawsuits and could upend Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s goal of slimming down a workforce he has repeatedly said is rife with waste, fraud and abuse.

A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s sweeping layoffs at several agencies, including HHS, saying that cooperation of the legislative branch is required for large-scale reorganizations. Kennedy eliminated thousands of jobs in early April, paralyzing programs across the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and particularly in the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, that monitored health threats, researched cures and investigated everything from toxic fumes in fire stations to outbreaks of gonorrhea. The layoffs at NIOSH have halted the National Firefighter Cancer Registry, Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program, Health Hazard Evaluation Program, Respirator Approval Program and Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program. All are required by law, but their government websites explain they are no longer operating because of the layoffs.

Read this article at Politico - Subscribers Only

Lead Stories

Texas megadonor Alex Fairly joined forces with the GOP’s ultraconservative wing. He didn’t like what he saw.

In mid-September, Alex Fairly accepted an invitation to spend the day with one of the state’s richest and most powerful political megadonors. He jumped in his private plane and flew down to meet Tim Dunn, a West Texas oil billionaire, at his political headquarters located outside of Fort Worth. For five hours, Dunn and his advisers walked Fairly through the network of consulting, fundraising and campaign operations they have long used to boost Texas’ most conservative candidates, target those who they deem too centrist and incrementally push the Legislature toward their hardline views. The two men talked about political philosophy and strategy. They discussed the Bible at length. Fairly was impressed, he said, if not surprised by the sheer magnitude of Dunn’s “political machine.” “I think most people underestimate how substantial and how many pieces there are that fit together and how coordinated they are,” Fairly said in an interview with The Texas Tribune. Dunn ended the tour with an ask: Would Fairly be willing to partner with him?

It was a stunning sign of how suddenly Fairly had emerged as a new power broker in Texas politics. Three years ago, few outside Amarillo had heard the name Alex Fairly. Now, the Panhandle businessman was being offered the chance to team up with one of the most feared and influential conservative figures at the Capitol. Over the past year, Fairly had also poured millions into attempts to unseat GOP lawmakers deemed not conservative enough and install new hardliners. He sought to influence the race for House speaker and rolled out a $20 million political action committee that pledged to “expand a true Republican majority” in the House. He had chosen a side in the raging civil war between establishment Republicans and far-right conservatives — and it was the same side as Dunn. Seemingly out of nowhere, he had become the state’s 10th largest single contributor for all 2024 legislative races, even when stacked against giving from PACs, according to an analysis by the Tribune. But after mulling it over, Fairly turned down Dunn’s offer. It wasn’t the right time, he said.

Read this article at Texas Tribune - Subscribers Only

Donald Trump has a negative economic approval rating in Texas for the first time, poll finds

For the first time, President Donald Trump has a negative approval rating in Texas over his handling of the economy, according to a new poll. The University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Politics Project survey, released Wednesday, found that 46% of Texans do not approve of how Trump is handling the country’s economy amid new tariffs and escalating trade wars. Just 40% support Trump’s economic moves. It is the first time Trump earned a negative economic rating since UT Austin pollsters began asking about his handling of the economy in June 2019. Even at the height of the COVID pandemic Trump fared better, with a 49% approval rating in April 2020. Just 42% disapproved then.

“President Trump owns the current economic uncertainty lock, stock, and barrel,” said James Henson, who leads the Texas Politics Project. Henson said Trump’s approval likely didn’t suffer as much during the COVID pandemic, because it was an external shock that couldn’t be attributed directly to him. “He is trying to blame others, like the previous president or the fed chair, for the current disruptions,” Henson said. “But that's a hard sell to any reasonably critical observer, and likely to get harder.” More Texans, 37%, said they believe they are economically worse off now compared to a year ago. Twenty percent said they were doing better. The same was true for the Texas economy, which 35% rated as worse off, compared to 27% who said it is better than a year ago. Since taking office in January, Trump slapped tariffs on some of Texas’ biggest trading partners, including Mexico and Canada. While he’s rolled back some of the steepest hikes, there’s still a 145% levy on imports from China that trade experts say will likely push up prices for consumers.

Read this article at San Antonio Express-News - Subscribers Only

Trump says U.S. and China negotiated "total reset" in tariff talks

Sensitive talks between U.S. and Chinese delegations over tariffs that threaten to upend the global economy ended after a day of prolonged negotiations and will resume Sunday, a source briefed on the meetings confirmed to CBS News. President Trump posted on his social media Saturday evening after the meetings concluded, saying "great progress" was made. "A very good meeting today with China, in Switzerland," Mr. Trump said. "Many things discussed, much agreed to. A total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner. We want to see, for the good of both China and the U.S., an opening up of China to American business."

There initially was no immediate indication whether any progress was made Saturday during the more than 10-hour meeting between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Switzerland. The talks, which could help stabilize world markets roiled by the U.S.-China standoff, have been shrouded in secrecy and neither side made comments to reporters on the way out. Based on Bessent's interview with Fox News last week, initial discussions were likely about "de-escalation, not about the big trade deal." The Treasury secretary said the U.S. and China have "shared interests" because the sky-high tariffs imposed by both countries last month are not "sustainable." U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is also in Switzerland alongside Bessent for the talks. Several convoys of black vehicles left the residence of the Swiss ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, which hosted the talks aimed at de-escalating trade tensions between the world's two biggest economies. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks took place.

Read this article at CBS News - Subscribers Only

Republicans stuck in the mud on Trump tax bill

Congressional Republicans are halfway through a critical four-week stretch for passing President Trump’s legislative priorities — and they are behind the eight-ball. On the House side, leaders are struggling to find consensus on a host of hot-button issues, headlined by Medicaid cuts and the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap. Top lawmakers are looking to advance key parts of the legislation next week, even as they haven’t been able to unveil legislation yet and their members remain far apart on the crucial questions. Across the Capitol, meanwhile, Senate Republicans are raising an eyebrow at the slow progress being made by their counterparts, questioning when they will get their hands on the package. That combination is upping the pressure on Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to deliver on his self-imposed Memorial Day deadline. He has the herculean task of finding a final product that appeases hardline conservatives, vulnerable moderates and the White House — all with few votes to spare in the GOP’s razor-thin majority.

“We’re still in the consensus-building business around here, as we are every single day,” Johnson told reporters on Thursday. “I’m very encouraged by our position in this and the progress that’s being made, and I think the final product gonna be very favorable to everybody.” The state-of-play, however, tells a different story. The House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicaid, is planning to formally consider and vote to advance its portion of the package on Tuesday, but the conference still remains at odds over potential changes to Medicaid. The budget resolution that served as a blueprint for the final bill instructed the panel to achieve at least $880 billion in spending cuts, which experts say is likely impossible without cuts to the safety net program. Republicans are largely on board with imposing work requirements, six-month registration checks and barring those who entered the country without authorization from the social safety net program, a source told The Hill, and Johnson told reporters this week that a controversial proposal to directly reduce the enhanced federal match for states that expanded Medicaid, known as the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP), was off the table, a key red line for moderates. But on whether the conference will place per capita caps on Medicaid expansion enrollees — another hard no among centrists — the situation is murky. Johnson told reporters this week “I think we’re ruling that out.” The next day, however, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) said it was his “understanding” that per capita caps “were still kind of alive,” drawing contrast with the Speaker and sowing confusion. On Thursday, the Speaker said the matter had not yet been worked out.

Read this article at The Hill - Subscribers Only

Judges warn Trump’s mass deportations could lay groundwork to ensnare Americans

A fundamental promise by America’s founders — that no one should be punished by the state without a fair hearing — is under threat, a growing chorus of federal judges say. That concept of “due process under law,” borrowed from the Magna Carta and enshrined in the Bill of Rights, is most clearly imperiled for the immigrants President Donald Trump intends to summarily deport, they say, but U.S. citizens should be wary, too. Across the country, judges appointed by presidents of both parties — including Trump himself — are escalating warnings about what they see as an erosion of due process caused by the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign. What started with a focus on people Trump has deemed “terrorists” and “gang members” — despite their fierce denials — could easily expand to other groups, including Americans, these judges warn.

“When the courts say due process is important, we’re not unhinged, we’re not radicals,” U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, a Washington, D.C.-based appointee of President Joe Biden, said at a recent hearing. “We are literally trying to enforce a process embodied in probably the most significant document with respect to peoples’ rights against tyrannical government oppression. That’s what we’re doing here. Okay?” It’s a fight that judges are increasingly casting as existential, rooted in the 5th Amendment’s guarantee that “no person shall … be deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law.” The word “person,” courts have noted, makes no distinction between citizens or noncitizens. The Supreme Court has long held that this fundamental promise extends to immigrants in deportation proceedings. In a 1993 opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia called that principle “well-established.” The daily skirmishing between the White House and judges has obscured a slow-moving, nearly unanimous crescendo: If the courts don’t protect the rights of the most vulnerable, everyone is at risk.

Read this article at Politico - Subscribers Only

State Stories

John Moritz: Why dysfunction is necessary for the Texas Legislature to actually function

When politicians are candidates for office, they like to say that they'll run government like a business. This is a promise that's easier said than done. Let's say a would-be entrepreneur approached a team of would-be investors with an idea for a startup. The pitch involved hiring 182 executive types and paying each of them $7,200 a year. That's not a typo or a misplaced comma. We're talking the princely sum of $600 a month. But each member of that executive staff would get to hire anywhere from three or four full-time employees to a couple of dozen or more. Moreover, many of those staffers would receive salaries 10 times higher than their bosses. But the bosses would only be expected to work five months out of every two years. And during the first 60 days of those five months, there wouldn't be a lot of productivity required. However, in the final month of the work cycle, 14- to 16-hour workdays would become the norm, and weekends off would be the exception and not the rule.

Finally, about two-thirds to three-quarters of the work produced during this five-month period would be discarded because it was either based on bad ideas or because infighting among the workforce sabotaged it. Good luck getting that startup started. Unless you consider the fact that the Legislature operates under that business model. Currently, lawmakers — 31 plus the lieutenant governor in the Senate and 150 in the House — along with their staffs, are in the midst of that 30-day sprint to the finish. And this is when the realization sets in that a whole lot of bills, or "products" in the above scenario, are going to die and a whole lot of hard work will have been for naught when the Legislature adjourns as it must sometime before midnight June 2. To the casual follower of politics and government, none of this makes any sense. If there is, in fact, a bunch of important items that need the attention of the state's elected leaders, why do they get so little time to do their jobs? And why can't they just jump right in and get started as soon as the Legislature convenes, as it must, on the second Tuesday in January during odd-numbered years?

Read this article at Austin American-Statesman - Subscribers Only

Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price accused of assaulting election worker

A Dallas County alternate election judge has accused Commissioner John Wiley Price of assault. Cynthia Stairs filed a police report with Dallas Police days after the alleged incident on May 3 at Friendship West Church polling location, according to a statement by the Dallas County Republican Party chairman. Dallas Police spokesperson Corbin Rubinson said the victim reported that the suspect knocked her phone out of her hands and demanded she leave the location. DPD transferred the report to the Dallas County Sheriff's Office after it was filed May 5 because the sheriff's office has jurisdiction over polling places.

Sheriff spokesperson Doug Sisk said investigators will review the report and decide whether an offense occurred. "From what I understand, it's an accusation of a physical contact thing," he said. "So all it's going to be is, basically, probably boil down to a Class C traffic ticket — Class C assault." Assault by contact — a misdemeanor different than a felony assault — means a victim was not necessarily injured. Stairs had called 911 from the church, but eventually said police help was no longer needed, so no action taken and no report was made that day. Dallas Police can arrest or detain someone if they witness a crime in progress at the scene, including at locations where they do not have jurisdiction, Rubinson said. "The report was made after the incident occurred," he said. "There's just definitely nothing for us to, just, immediately go and file an arrest warrant. We took the information and then said, 'Oh, this happened at an election site, we're going to transfer this over to the county.'"

Read this article at KERA - Subscribers Only

Texas Democrats to consider removal of Fort Bend County party chair, precinct chairs say

The Texas State Democratic Executive Committee will vote Monday on whether to remove Fort Bend County Democratic Party Chair Fred Taylor, after local precinct chairs alleged he made more than $97,000 in unauthorized purchases and violated the local party's bylaws. Taylor said there's no legal basis for his removal and that some members of the party are targeting him because he's investigating financial mismanagement under former party chair Cynthia Ginyard. "They want to do this shell game and they want to do this smear game to basically try to discredit me," he said.

It's the latest turmoil in the local party for the county southwest of Houston. It was rocked by scandal last year after allegations surfaced that Fort Bend County Judge KP George, a Democrat, and his staffer, Taral Patel, had faked racist attacks against their own campaigns on social media. George is also facing money laundering charges. And it follows a presidential election season in which local Democrats lost some ground in the diverse, fast-growing county that had been gradually shifting to the left in recent years. In April, Fort Bend County Republican Chair Bobby Eberle released a statement attacking Taylor, after the Democratic Party called for George's resignation. "The hypocrisy of Taylor's comments is simply staggering, considering that Taylor himself has been accused of financial mismanagement from within his own party," Eberle said. "In fact, a resolution was circulated urging the state Democratic Party to remove Taylor."

Read this article at Houston Public Media - Subscribers Only

The crypto racket

The five members of the Navarro County Commissioners Court had rarely seen such a large audience for their Tuesday meeting as they saw in October 2024, when they weighed a Colorado-based company’s application for a multimillion-dollar tax abatement—an incentive to expand its already-established cryptocurrency mine near the small North Texas town of Corsicana. It was standing room only in the small meeting room of the stately county courthouse. Roughly a dozen locals occupied the first rows of seats, while more than 50 employees of Riot Platforms—the company seeking the crypto handout—filled up the rest, spilling out into the halls. Commissioners called on Jackie Sawicky to speak. She wore a black t-shirt with a crossed-out Bitcoin symbol below an acronym for the Texas Coalition Against Cryptomining (TCAC), the organization she’d founded in May 2022, days after Corsicana announced that Riot’s 265-acre, 400-megawatt (MW) mine—and 150 jobs with it—was coming to a bucolic area southwest of town where ranches are strung along a two-lane farm-to-market road.

“On April 27, the City of Corsicana announced [Riot was] building the world’s largest Bitcoin mine. The people living off of [FM] 709, these beautiful people, were not informed, nor did they consent,” she told the commissioners. “This is a multibillion-dollar corporation, and they are trying to wriggle out of paying their fiduciary obligation to the county,” adding that a relatively poor county like Navarro could use all the tax revenue it can get. A little later, Riot Public Policy Director Samuel Lyman painted Sawicky, a 45-year-old permaculturalist who relocated to the 25,600-person Corsicana from the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Garland in 2018 seeking more gardening acreage, as a “professional activist,” even though her work with TCAC is entirely unpaid. Lyman said his firm had already donated more than $100,000 to community organizations and that the mine’s proposed expansion, which will more than double its mining output, would generate over a billion dollars in taxable sales to offset the tax break. Riot workers, many of whom had been bussed in that morning from the mine—which lies in unincorporated territory beside the 400-person hamlet of Oak Valley—wore gray work shirts with reflective yellow safety stripes. Lyman asked them to raise their hands if they supported the abatement. Hands shot up.

Read this article at Texas Observer - Subscribers Only

Gina Ortiz Jones faces backlash for dodging media on election night

For San Antonio mayoral candidate Gina Ortiz Jones, election night was a mostly private affair. Jones, 44, was the only major candidate not to host a public watch party after polls closed Saturday. Outside her campaign headquarters, reporters waited for an opportunity to ask the potential city leader questions about her candidacy and the runoff. But once the final votes were counted, Jones had other plans. In a now-viral video posted by KSAT, the candidate appeared to dodge reporters as she and her campaign staff headed to the Fiesta Flambeau parade. “We didn’t get a chance to ask any questions,” KSAT reporter Garrett Brnger said as he followed Jones down the street. “You’re the frontrunner in a mayoral campaign — it’s kind of expected.”

“I’ve provided my comment,” Jones said in the video. “I’m going to spend this and enjoy this with my team, who’s worked so very hard.” The former Air Force undersecretary led the field of 27 mayoral candidates with 27% of the vote on Saturday and will face off against past Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos, 56, in the June 7 runoff. Jones' campaign manager, Jordan Abelson, said in an interview that the campaign team decided to keep the watch party internal but took questions from reporters several times throughout the evening, including at the Fiesta parade “where a lot of our supporters were.” “The press was part of our evening, even though that wasn’t necessarily part of the original plan,” she said. Jones maintained she has fostered a good relationship with the press throughout her candidacy.

Read this article at San Antonio Express-News - Subscribers Only

Texas fentanyl test strip legalization stalls despite bipartisan support

Efforts to legalize fentanyl test strips in Texas are facing significant hurdles in the state legislature, despite receiving unanimous bipartisan support in the House. House Bill 1644, which aims to remove fentanyl test strips from the state's list of banned drug paraphernalia, has stalled in the Senate's Criminal Justice Committee. The proposed legislation would allow individuals to legally carry, manufacture, sell, and use fentanyl test strips, which can detect trace amounts of the potent opioid in drug samples. The strips, costing about a dollar each, are seen by public health officials as a crucial tool in preventing overdose deaths. Dr. Hector Ocaranza, El Paso Health Authority, emphasized the importance of such harm reduction techniques, stating, "That is one of the techniques and harm reduction that is being helping reduce the amount of deaths due to fentanyl. This is one of the initiatives that will help, but there has to be more tools available."

During a public health committee meeting, lawmakers acknowledged the lack of clear justification for the current ban, describing it as poor policy. Representative Tom Oliverson, who is also an anesthesiologist, criticized the ban, suggesting it stemmed from a misunderstanding of fentanyl's potency and danger. "So, we're not enabling drug users a drug user to go, 'This is a safe dosage, I can take this without dying,' we're just telling them, 'Hey, there's fentanyl in this.' Yeah, it's literally...it's the equivalent of saying, 'Don't step there. If you step there, you will die,'" was stated during the meeting. Despite the bill's passage in the House, it has yet to receive a hearing in the Senate, raising concerns among supporters that it may not advance before the legislative session ends in less than four weeks. This delay comes as fentanyl continues to claim lives across Texas, including a recent case in El Paso that led to a murder indictment.

Read this article at KFOX - Subscribers Only

Texas House OKs bill to limit minors' access to sexually explicit books in public libraries

After banning books with sexually explicit content from schools in 2023, Texas Republicans are setting their sights on a new target: municipal public libraries. The party is hoping to make books that "describe, depict or portray" sexual conduct off-limits to underage library visitors with House Bill 3225, which the Texas House advanced to the Senate with an 82-53 vote Friday. The bill would require that librarians remove all "sexually explicit" materials from the children's and young adult sections, and mandate that they verify patrons' ages during checkouts of those materials. Three Democratic House members from South Texas voted with Republicans in support of the proposal.

State Rep. Daniel Alders filed the bill to make parents “feel comfortable allowing their children to freely explore the books” in public libraries, he said in an April 14 hearing in the House State Affairs Committee. The Republican House member from Tyler said he worries about his tween daughters, who are voracious readers, accessing sexually explicit books that are available in the “young adults” section of his local library. In a heated floor debate Friday, Democratic members argued the bill could unconstitutionally restrict minors’ access to classic books like “Lord of the Flies,” “The Bluest Eye” and “Brave New World.” They also said it would cut off their access to information about sexual health, sexual assault and puberty. “If there aren't books, teens are going to go to the internet, and the internet is not a good source of information,” said Rep. Erin Zwiener, D-Driftwood. “Pretending that this doesn't happen or that these kids are not being confronted by this stuff is absolutely asinine,” said Rep. Ann Johnson, a Houston Democrat and former human trafficking and child sex abuse prosecutor. “So be honest with them about society and give them access to honest information, which comes out of a public library.”

Read this article at Austin American-Statesman - Subscribers Only

How one of Texas’s longest-serving DAs made representation a rural value

It was the last case on the docket of the last criminal court of the month in Austin County, about ninety minutes west of Houston. The gallery was empty, and the defendant was an undocumented immigrant from Honduras. He spoke only Spanish, and the only translator available was his defense attorney. The defendant, who quickly became emotional, was ready to take the plea deal. “I want to be done,” he said, with his attorney translating. But something wasn’t sitting right with Travis Koehn, the state prosecutor. Standing across from the young man who was rubbing tears from his eyes with the shoulder of his striped, jail-issued jumpsuit, Koehn could tell the defendant didn’t have all the information. The man didn’t seem to understand how that day’s decision might affect his immediate future in the United States, had been verbally wavering back and forth as to whether he wanted to just take the plea or first speak to the Honduran consulate. It wasn’t clear to anyone whether the man fully grasped what rights he would be waiving, and what consequences could be set in motion, if he took the plea. “I don’t feel comfortable proceeding,” Koehn finally told Judge Jeff Steinhauser, who agreed.

Steinhauser turned to the young man. “I want you to feel like your rights are being protected.” Koehn nodded in agreement. They set a new court date, with explicit instructions for the man to speak to an immigration attorney who could advise him of his rights. Politically, no one in Austin County would have penalized Koehn or Steinhauser, both Republicans, for rushing an undocumented immigrant through the system and, likely, toward swift deportation. Eighty-five percent of Austin County voted for Donald Trump in November, largely based on his promises to do just that. But as much as Austin County feels like Trump country, for the last 36 years, it has actually been Koehn country. That’s little comfort to anyone making trouble. Koehn is notoriously tough. But he’s also adamant that people are mostly good, and sometimes that means giving them a break. Sometimes it means prison time. But it always starts by getting everybody, as much as possible, on the same page—about one’s situation, about one’s options, about one’s rights. “You do the job as honestly and as up front as you can,” Koehn told me. That’s how you survive as the law in a small town. Koehn was first elected district attorney in 1988, after six years as assistant district attorney. When he announced his retirement in February of this year, he was Texas’s longest currently serving DA. He officially handed the reins to his former assistant DA Brandy Robinson on April 24, about a month shy of beating the all-time record held by Tim Curry of Tarrant County, who died in office in 2009.

Read this article at Texas Monthly - Subscribers Only

Transgender health and ID bills clear Texas House, prompting heated debate

The Texas House of Representatives held its second weekend session of the 89th regular legislative session on Saturday. With time winding down in the session, the lower chamber is working through the weekend as lawmakers work to debate and pass legislation. Lawmakers also took some time to acknowledge Mexican Mother's Day, which is on Saturday. They passed a resolution and invited a mariachi band onto the House floor to perform. The Texas House gave final approval to HB 2462 by State Rep. Jeff Leach (R-Plano). The bill allows pregnant women to drive in HOV lanes while behind the wheel of a car. Currently, vehicles must be occupied by two or more people to use the HOV lane. Leach called it a Mother's Day gift to mothers across the state. Lawmakers expanded the bill to include all mothers, regardless of the age of their children, as part of an amendment they adopted from State Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D-Austin).

The Texas House took up two controversial bills that LGBTQ+ supporters say target the transgender community. House Bill 229 and Senate Bill 1257 relate to sex-based terms on government documents and gender-affirming care costs. SB 1257, by state Sen. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola), is similar to Leach's HB 778, which would require health insurance companies that cover the cost of transition-related care to also cover the cost of reversal procedures. "All this bill does is say that if you do that insurance company, you also have to provide coverage if that person wants to come home from the dance," Leach said. "If at some point in the future they decide to detransition, the bill will require any health benefit plan that provides coverage for gender transition procedures and treatment." The treatments must also cover adverse effects and related health conditions. It would apply to new or renewed health plans starting in January 2026. "This bill is meant to protect Texans, not to harm them," Leach said. "Texans who receive coverage for gender transition treatments should receive and should be given the same coverage to treat any effects resulting from those original transition treatments if they make the choice later in life to reverse them." State Rep. Jessica González (D-Dallas), who is openly queer, said she worries the bill could lead to higher insurance fees for people seeking gender-affirming care.

Read this article at KVUE - Subscribers Only

Department of Justice announces investigation of Muslim EPIC City

The U.S. Department of Justice is opening an investigation into a proposed Muslim development of a North Texas mosque. Sen. John Cornyn sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon last month asking them to to investigate potential “religious discrimination” at the East Plano Islamic Center's EPIC City, a proposed housing development that would be located in unincorporated Collin and Hunt counties. Cornyn said in a press release on Friday the U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation in response to his concerns. “I am grateful to Attorney General Bondi and the Department of Justice for hearing my concerns and opening an investigation into the proposed EPIC City development in North Texas,” Cornyn said. “Religious discrimination and Sharia Law have no place in the Lone Star State. Any violations of federal law must be swiftly prosecuted, and I know under the Trump administration, they will be.”

Dan Cogdell, the attorney for EPIC, said the North Texas mosque will cooperate with the investigation. "EPIC will cooperate fully with any and all investigations — regardless of how misguided and unnecessary they are," Cogdell said. EPIC City is a proposed 402-acre development associated with the East Plano Islamic Center mosque. It would be roughly 40 miles northeast of Dallas near the city of Josephine. The mixed-use development would include a new mosque, more than 1,000 single- and multi-family homes, a K-12 faith-based school, senior housing, an outreach center, commercial developments, sports facilities, and a community college. Yasir Qadhi, a resident scholar at the East Plano Islamic Center and one of the people involved in the project planning, told KERA in an interview last year EPIC City is not exclusive to Muslim residents. “It’s an open community,” Qadhi said. “Anybody can come in. We're welcoming people of all backgrounds and diversity and we're offering them facilities that we think would be very, very useful.”

Read this article at KERA - Subscribers Only

Houston group says Pope Leo is among Catholic leaders who 'looked the other way' on sex abuse

Pope Leo XIV celebrated the first mass of his papacy Friday morning at the Sistine Chapel at The Vatican in Rome. The former Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was close to the late Pope Francis, and is expected to focus on some of the same themes Francis did, including advocating for migrants and caring for the poor. But what remains unclear is what the new leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics might do or say about the church’s generations-long mishandling of clergy sexual abuse. During his tenure, Pope Francis acknowledged the church's failure to protect children, apologized for it, and abolished "pontifical secrecy" in abuse cases. He also established church law that required reporting abuse, created steps towards defrocking abusers, and established steps to hold leadership accountable for being negligent in how they handled cases of abuse.

While acknowledging those steps by Francis, Eduardo Lopez de Casas told Houston Matters with Craig Cohen the late pope did not go far enough. Lopez de Casas leads SNAP Houston, the local chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, and he is also the vice president of the national organization. He said SNAP wants to see zero tolerance for abuse, and he believes that does not yet exist within the structure of the Catholic Church — something he’s looking to Leo to set it in motion. “There are many people that think that with all of the scandals that have happened in the Catholic Church, they just assume that there is zero tolerance. And there isn’t,” Lopez de Casas said. “We are truly advocating that they do this as a canon law so that we can really, really make a dent on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.” SNAP and organizations like it argue Pope Leo is among a number of Catholic leaders who looked the other way in past instances of abuse and should have done more to ensure priests who were credibly accused of abuse were not allowed to continue to operate within the church. “It’s not so much that we are calling some of these cardinals out because they didn’t do enough. We are calling these cardinals out because they turned their head to abuse,” he said. “They knew about it, and they didn’t do anything about it. And that’s a big difference.”

Read this article at KERA - Subscribers Only

Abbott signs bill to close ‘Do Not Hire’ loopholes, another advances

Two bills that could close loopholes in Texas’ “Do Not Hire” registry advanced this week, but one is still up against the clock of sine die. Sen. Paul Bettencourt, who authored Senate Bill 571 and Senate Bill 1437, said that he introduced SB 571 “after a contractor in Austin was found working around students despite a history of misconduct.” “These bills make sure misconduct gets flagged and stopped-no more passing the trash that allows predators to reappear in other educational or juvenile justice roles,” said Bettencourt in a Friday press release. As KXAN previously reported, SB 571 was filed as a direct result of a KXAN investigation. That investigation uncovered that a former Texas Juvenile Justice corrections officer got a tutoring job at an Austin ISD campus through a nonprofit, despite the TJJD Office of Inspector General already determining he had an inappropriate relationship with a juvenile.

Read this article at KXAN - Subscribers Only

Texas, Google reach $1.375 billion settlement over data privacy

The state of Texas and tech giant Google have agreed in principle to a $1.375 billion settlement to end a lawsuit rooted in data privacy and security rights, the Texas attorney general's office announced late Friday. The attorney general's office brought the lawsuit against Google in 2022 alleging that it had unlawfully tracked and collected private data regarding geolocation, incognito searches and biometric data, according to a news release from the state agency. "After years of aggressive litigation, Attorney General (Ken) Paxton agreed to settle Texas’s data-privacy claims against Google for an amount that far surpasses any other state’s claims for similar violations," the release said. "To date, no state has attained a settlement against Google for similar data-privacy violations greater than $93 million."

The private law firm of Norton Rose Fulbright was hired by the attorney general's office to assist with the litigation. The attorney general's office in recent years has secured several settlements against big tech companies. In July, Paxton's office and Meta — formerly Facebook — reached a $1.4 billion settlement over the collection of facial recognition data. Earlier, Texas and Google agreed to one $700 million settlement and a separate $8 million settlement over allegations of anticompetitive and deceptive trade practices.

Read this article at Austin American-Statesman - Subscribers Only

City Stories

Cy-Fair ISD establishes new partnership to address absenteeism

Six high school principals in Cy-Fair ISD will soon be working with on-campus student support specialists from Communities in Schools of Houston, a national program that partners with schools at the local level to combat chronic absenteeism. The board unanimously approved the partnership at its May 5 meeting.“This evidence-based organization will be an asset to our district due to their training and experience with working with students and parents to increase attendance and eliminate barriers to school success,” Chris Hecker, assistant superintendent for secondary school leadership, said at the CFISD board work session May 1.

Communities in Schools serves over 1 million students in Texas, Hecker said. The nonprofit organization has regional branches, including one in Houston, that can tailor their services to best meet the needs of local districts, Hecker said. Nationally, 99% of students involved in the program remained in school all year during 2022-23, according to data from a CFISD presentation. In addition to attendance improvements, specialists working on CFISD campuses will target academic assistance and behavioral interventions. The program has been approved by the Texas Education Agency with funding partially covered by the Texas Legislature. Campus-level Title One funding—federal funding distributed to campuses where a high percentage of students are economically disadvantaged—will cover the district's portion of the costs, district officials said. Communities in Schools specialists will serve students with parental consent in partnership with campus principals. "This person is on campus every day. ... This is someone who's going to build relationships with the students, with the staff and the administration," Hecker said.

Read this article at Community Impact Newspapers - Subscribers Only

National Stories

Egg prices decline, but grocery shoppers face coming uncertainty

The price surge has shifted shoppers’ expectations, and many have begun to make peace with much higher costs, however grudgingly. The average price consumers say they’d pay for a dozen eggs is $5.56, the market research firm Numerator reported last month, up sharply from $4.90 in January. “This increased willingness to pay over the past few months indicates consumers are growing accustomed to higher egg prices, either consciously or subconsciously,” the researchers said. And it isn’t just eggs: Many shoppers are bracing to pay more for groceries overall as they shift focus toward covering essentials. Many are now planning to trim their spending this summer on everything from clothing and furniture to travel, according to a survey the consulting firm KPMG released in late April. Groceries were one of just two categories where shoppers said they expect to spend more.

“Tariffs have gone from background noise to front and center for consumers — and their grocery receipts show it,” Heather Rice, consumer and retail tax leader at KPMG, said in a statement with the results. “Shoppers are more price-sensitive than ever, and many are connecting rising costs directly to tariffs.” Consumer sentiment recently hit a 12-year low in a closely watched Conference Board survey as more households anticipate inflation climbing this year. The annual pace of consumer price increases clocked in at 2.4% in March, down from 2.8% the prior month, but that was before President Donald Trump vastly expanded his global trade war in April. Many shoppers have already raced to scoop up foreign-made goods, including big-ticket purchases like cars and trucks, to get ahead of import taxes on a broad range of products. The White House touted progress toward a new trade deal with the U.K. on Thursday, and Trump has repeatedly asserted that “almost all costs,” including eggs and other groceries, have fallen on his watch. But despite revisions, walk-backs and delays to various parts of his trade agenda, the president’s tariffs have already made many products more expensive than they were earlier this year.

Read this article at NBC News - Subscribers Only

Pope Leo XIV lays out vision of papacy and identifies AI as a main challenge for humanity

Pope Leo XIV laid out the vision of his papacy Saturday, identifying artificial intelligence as one of the most critical matters facing humanity and vowing to continue with some of the core priorities of Pope Francis. But in a sign he was making the papacy very much his own, Leo made his first outing since his election, traveling to a sanctuary south of Rome that is dedicated to the Madonna and is of particular significance to his Augustinian order and his namesake, Pope Leo XIII. Townspeople of Genazzano gathered in the square outside the main church housing the Madre del Buon Consiglio (Mother of Good Counsel) sanctuary as Leo arrived and greeted them. The sanctuary, which is managed by Augustinian friars, has been a place of pilgrimage since the 15th century and the previous Pope Leo elevated it to a minor basilica and expanded the adjacent convent in the early 1900s.

After praying in the church, Leo greeted the townspeople and told them they had both a gift and a responsibility in having the Madonna in their midst. He offered a blessing and then got back into the passenger seat of the car, a black Volkswagen. En route back to the Vatican, he stopped to pray at Francis’ tomb at St. Mary Major Basilica. The after-lunch outing came after Leo presided over his first formal audience, with the cardinals who elected him pope. In it Leo repeatedly cited Francis and the Argentine pope’s own 2013 mission statement, making clear a commitment to making the Catholic Church more inclusive and attentive to the faithful and a church that looks out for the “least and rejected.” Leo, the first American pope, told the cardinals that he was fully committed to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the 1960s meetings that modernized the church. He identified AI as one of the main issues facing humanity, saying it poses challenges to defending human dignity, justice and labor.

Read this article at Associated Press - Subscribers Only

Newark air traffic controllers lost contact with planes again in overnight outage

Air traffic controllers who guide planes in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport lost radar and communication with aircraft before dawn on Friday in another 90-second outage, the Federal Aviation Administration said, hours after the Trump administration unveiled a plan to overhaul the aging technology that keeps U.S. airspace space safe. The outage occurred at about 3:55 a.m. ET, the FAA said. There are far fewer aircraft flying overnight, so disruptions were minimal compared with a similar outage on the afternoon of April 28, which snarled air travel for days. Several controllers took leave because of the stress of that April incident, the FAA said. That exacerbated low staffing levels at the Philadelphia facility, where controllers oversee planes at Newark, New Jersey, airport, forcing the FAA to slow the airport’s traffic.

Like in the April incident, Friday’s outage left controllers unable to communicate with aircraft and their radar screens dark. On Thursday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy unveiled plans to overhaul several aging facilities and modernize technology used by controllers, who oversee about 45,000 flights a day in the U.S. Aviation-industry groups and labor unions applauded the proposal and said Thursday that Congress should approve at least $31 billion over the next three years for improvements. That includes $12.5 billion outlined in a House spending proposal last month, for air traffic control modernization and more hiring of controllers.

Read this article at CNBC - Subscribers Only

Trump isn’t the only one targeting federal employees. House Republicans are pushing cuts to pension benefits

After months of contending with the Trump administration’s multi-pronged effort to downsize the federal workforce, government employees are now facing the possibility of another major change that could push even more of them out the door. House Republicans are looking to make several big adjustments to federal workers’ retirement benefits to help pay for the party’s sweeping tax and spending cuts package. The House Oversight Committee last week approved a plan that would squeeze $50 billion in savings out of the retirement system over the next decade. “They’re going to charge people more for the benefit, and then they’re going to reduce the benefit by changing the formula for how the benefit is calculated,” Jacqueline Simon, policy director of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal workers union, told reporters on Monday.

The cuts could lead workers eligible for retirement to head for the exits in an effort to lock in their current benefits, union leaders say. Congressional Republicans have long wanted to overhaul federal staffers’ pension system, as did President Donald Trump during his first term. But their efforts typically did not advance far. In the current political environment, however, the policy push may have a greater chance of succeeding. Republicans’ “big, beautiful bill” has not yet been finalized and must still be approved by the full House and the Senate. Rep. James Comer, the committee’s chair, described the effort as a way to save Americans money. “The simple truth is that a significant amount of the costs associated with all of these benefits are funded by hardworking taxpayers in the private sector and increasingly now federal government borrowing,” Comer said in his opening remarks when the committee examined the plan. At least one House Republican has already come out against the measure. Ohio Rep. Mike Turner joined Democrats in voting against the committee’s plan last week.

Read this article at CNN - Subscribers Only

Ruben Gallego’s tough talk in Pennsylvania visit adds to 2028 chatter

Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego arrived in this battleground state more than 2,000 miles from his home state of Arizona on Saturday with some tough talk, declaring that members of his party need to connect more authentically with working-class voters. Speaking before a few hundred Pennsylvanians in the auditorium of a local middle school here, Gallego’s appearance fueled the ongoing chatter in Democratic circles about his potential as a 2028 presidential contender. The audience appeared to welcome his straight talk about how Democrats need to stop blaming Americans who voted for Donald Trump for the fallout of the president’s policies and instead focus on engaging them as Trump’s approval ratings have dropped. “This is our opportunity to get them back,” Gallego said. “We’re not going to do it by saying, ‘I told you so’ as much as it’s tempting to do that. What you want to do is talk to them about what they thought they were going to get and what you’re getting now.”

Gallego, 45, has emerged as a rising star within the Democratic Party since winning a hard-fought Senate race in November in the battleground state that went for Trump. Democrats have increasingly looked to Gallego — a Latino and Marine veteran with working-class roots — as a voice on how to successfully court both base Democratic voters and moderates. Gallego won his Senate race in part by connecting with voters — particularly Latino men, a segment of the electorate that nationally drifted away from Democrats — over their shared anxiety on the state of the economy, border security and immigration. More than six months after Vice President Kamala Harris’s loss to Trump, Democrats are still struggling to identify a new standard-bearer as the party’s favorability has hit record lows. With no obvious front-runner looking to 2028, many ambitious Democrats such as Gallego have been crisscrossing the country in an attempt to boost the party’s standing. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is scheduled to headline a key Democratic dinner in South Carolina this month. Former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg will be in Iowa on Tuesday for a town hall focused on Trump’s handling of veterans’ issues. Last month, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker delivered a fiery address before New Hampshire Democrats, marking the first major appearance in an early primary state by a potential 2028 White House hopeful.

Read this article at Washington Post - Subscribers Only

Tariff shock reverberates in the bond market

Stocks have rebounded since President Trump’s tariff announcement sparked market turmoil. But there is still some trouble in the bond market. Since April 2, declines in the prices of longer-term Treasurys have driven up the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to around 4.37%, according to Tradeweb. That climb happened even while shorter-term yields were falling, dragged down by bets that the Federal Reserve will respond to a slowing economy by cutting interest rates. The unusual divergence, known in Wall Street parlance as a “steepening twist,” is already challenging policymakers and raising borrowing costs for consumers. Typically, Treasury yields are heavily influenced by what investors expect short-term rates set by the Fed will average over the life of a bond. But longer-term yields—which play a major role in determining borrowing costs across the economy—have become less connected to that outlook, potentially making it harder for the Fed to spur growth with rate cuts.

One major reason is uncertainty about inflation. While investors think that inflation and interest rates will subside in the coming years, Trump’s mercurial approach to trade policy has made them less sure about those forecasts. They, therefore, are demanding more yield for the risk of holding Treasurys for a longer period—a form of additional compensation known as term premium. The bond market is reflecting “uncertainty about where this economy is heading and still lingering uncertainty about what the policy landscape will ultimately be,” said Tim Ng, a fixed income portfolio manager at Capital Group. Investors are also more hesitant to buy longer-term Treasurys because of concerns that the growing supply of bonds needed to fund the federal budget deficit will hurt prices, analysts said. House and Senate Republicans have been working for months on major tax-cut legislation that may or may not include significant spending reductions. Most investors and analysts believe that even longer-term yields would still likely fall if the U.S. entered a recession this year and the Fed cut rates aggressively. The worry is that they might not drop very much, keeping rates on mortgages and other types of debt elevated just when the central bank wants to encourage borrowing.

Read this article at Wall Street Journal - Subscribers Only

This obscure New York court is set to decide fate of Trump’s tariffs

The Trump administration’s global tariffs face their first major legal test this week when a little-known Manhattan court considers one of the president’s most sweeping assertions of executive power. A three-judge panel at the Court of International Trade will hear arguments Tuesday on whether to halt the levies, which have unleashed a trade war with the world and threaten to upend the global economy. The federal court, which has nationwide jurisdiction over tariff and trade disputes, operates for the most part in obscurity, rarely garnering a mention in major publications and staying off the radar of most attorneys. “Most lawyers will get out of law school without knowing that it exists,” said Lawrence Friedman, a partner at law firm Barnes, Richardson & Colburn LLP who specializes in litigation at the court.

The court will step into the limelight this week in a lawsuit brought by New York-based wine importer V.O.S. Selections and four other small businesses who say President Trump doesn’t have the authority to impose the tariffs. Other challenges have been filed in the court and in federal district courts around the country, but the V.O.S. case is front and center so far. Trump unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariffs in early April, placing 10% levies on every nation. He imposed even higher rates on many countries he deemed “bad actors,” but later announced a 90-day pause on those duties. China wasn’t included in the moratorium; instead Trump ratcheted up its tariffs to 145%. The president invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a 1970s-era law known as IEEPA, in imposing the sweeping tariffs, saying trade deficits had hobbled the U.S. economy and created a national emergency. The Court of International Trade is no different than any other district court in the U.S., although it has a few quirks. Congress created it in 1980 as a successor to the U.S. Customs Court, which operated for decades in Manhattan when New York City was the busiest harbor for imports in the country.

Read this article at Wall Street Journal - Subscribers Only

Lead Stories

'Absolutely terrible': What Texas executives really think about Trump's tariffs

"Chaos." "Nonsense." "Absolutely terrible." In public, at least, many business leaders have been somewhat circumspect since President Donald Trump announced sweeping worldwide tariffs on April 2, or as he called it, "Liberation Day." But Texas executives were a bit more candid in a series of recent surveys conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, which invited them to comment on the tariffs anonymously. "A lack of a plan and the arbitrary nature of the tariffs are killing business," said one manufacturing executive in computer and electronic product manufacturing. The Dallas Fed surveys hundreds of executives in the manufacturing, service and retail sectors each month about business conditions, inviting them to elaborate with anonymous comments. Last month's surveys, conducted April 15–23, included a series of special questions on the impact of Trump's tariffs.

Nearly 60% of the roughly 350 respondents from across the state said they expected higher tariffs to have a negative impact on their businesses this year; only 3.2% were expecting a positive impact. About 55% of those expecting a negative impact said they plan to pass at least some portion of the cost increases through to their customers. At the time of the most recent survey, Trump had announced a pause on many of the tariffs he had just proposed, after the "Liberation Day" proposals sent markets reeling and raised concerns about the potential for inflation and recession. But Trump was planning to proceed with tariffs on major trading partners including China, which was among the countries responding with retaliatory tariffs. "I cannot emphasize enough how absolutely terrible this is in the short term," said another. "The daily changes in policy make it impossible to attract new business currently because we cannot quote it with accuracy." An executive in professional services described the situation as "a self-inflicted pandemic all over again."

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

Robert Prevost, first US pope, will reign as Leo XIV

In a shocking vote that caught the Catholic world by surprise, the College of Cardinals elected Robert Francis Prevost, 69, the 267th pope on Thursday (May 8). He is the first United States citizen to become the bishop of Rome. The Chicago-born Prevost has chosen to take the name Pope Leo XIV, signaling a kinship with the 19th-century Pope Leo XIII, who was known for opening the doors of the church to the world and made Catholic social teaching a central issue during his pontificate. As he walked out of the loggia onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to greet the cheering crowd in the square below, the new pope said, “Peace be with you all!” Remembering the Easter season being celebrated in the church, he added, “I would like this greeting of peace to reach all people, in the entire world.”

At his mention of his predecessor, Pope Francis, who died April 21, the crowd roared, and the new pope reminded them: “We are all in the hands of God. Hence, without fear, united hand in hand with God and with each other, we go forward. We are disciples of Christ. Christ precedes us!” Corinne Bernhard, a Chicagoan who was in the crowd, said “it feels surreal” to have a pope who was born in Chicago. Miles Redwine, a Catholic visiting from the small Texas town of Chester, said, “I would’ve never thought in a million years that it would’ve been an American.” Marie Clack, who was traveling with him, said, “I almost started crying, full body chills.” Prevost is a former head of the Order of St. Augustine and was the only member of the ancient order in the conclave. In his role as prior general from 2001 and 2013, Prevost traveled widely, gaining hands-on experience about the demands and priorities of the many countries where the Augustinians serve. He graduated from Villanova University and Catholic Theological Union but has spent much of his career outside the U.S., having served from 2015-2023 as the archbishop of Chiclayo in Peru, where he also holds citizenship.

Read this article at Religion News Service - Subscribers Only

Texas House gives initial passage to bill that would ban some Chinese citizens from owning

The Texas House gave initial approval to a bill Thursday that would ban citizens of China, Iran, North Korea and Russia from owning properties in Texas, moving the state one step closer to creating barriers for property ownership to people from countries deemed hostile. On a largely partisan vote of 85-60, the House approved the bill, making it the latest Republican-led policy once considered too extreme for the House now on a direct path to becoming law as the chamber shifts further to the right. “We must not allow oppressive regimes who actively seek to do us harm to seize control and dictate their terms over our economy, supply chain and our daily lives,” said Rep. Cole Hefner, R-Mount Pleasant, the bill’s sponsor. The bill has drawn disdain from many in Texas’ Asian American community, who have called it racist and a proposal that could unintentionally subject them to violence.

“It is signalling that Asian people are dangerous and enemies of the state,” said Lily Trieu, co-executive director of the advocacy group Asian Texans for Justice. “It’s xenophobic.” The bill targets hostile nations named in a 2025 threat assessment report from the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard. Companies, government organizations and citizens from those countries would no longer be able to purchase any property in Texas. It would empower the Texas Attorney General’s office to investigate reports of property owned by hostile nations. Prosecutors in the office could take civil action to seize the property under a court order. The property would then be placed under an appointed receiver, who would oversee its sale and the distribution of proceeds to the prohibited buyer. The bill’s initial passage came after a fiery debate, which ultimately led to a proposal that created exceptions for non-citizens from hostile nations who entered the country legally, whether through student and work visas or the asylum process. Republicans also amended the bill to give the governor’s office unilateral power to declare additional nations subject to the ban.

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

Trump’s bespoke trade deal with U.K. sets little precedent for other nations

President Trump made a deal. Now comes the hard part: getting more. Trump agreed to a framework for a trade agreement with the U.K., giving his administration momentum as it faces pressure to notch scores more to avoid hurting American consumers. But the deal was limited in scope and included niche issues regarding the U.K., meaning it didn’t offer other nations a clear road map to follow, foreign officials said. Many other deals weren’t seen as likely to come together so easily. The U.K. was low-hanging fruit, given the U.S. enjoys a goods trade surplus with the country, unlike with China, America’s third-largest trading partner for goods in 2024, according to the Census Bureau. Imports from China are currently subject to a whopping 145% levy. In a sign of how eager Trump was for a win in the trade conflicts, he called U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer late Wednesday to finalize the details.

Starmer was watching his favorite soccer team, Arsenal, play a crucial European game at the time, according to the prime minister, who said he hadn’t planned to announce a trade deal on Thursday. “They are keen to show they are making progress,” said Myron Brilliant, a senior counselor at DGA Group. “These are signals to the market. It’s better to have a step forward than a step back. But they are going to have to demonstrate these deals are going to end up with sustaining commitments on both sides.” While analysts questioned the significance of the deal, Trump, who has shown frustration with questions over his trade agenda and the global turbulence it has created, cast it as historic. His team said the deal would unlock billions for U.S. exporters. The Trump administration agreed to roll back tariffs imposed on British steel and automobiles in exchange for the U.K.’s purchasing Boeing jets and giving American farmers greater access to U.K. markets. The U.S. also agreed to allow Rolls-Royce jet engines and parts to be imported tariff-free. Trump expressed confidence in reaching agreements with other countries, notably China. The president, though, showed no sign of backing entirely away from his tariff agenda as he seeks to rebalance global trade.

Read this article at Wall Street Journal - Subscribers Only

State Stories

Brooke Rollins on massive food bank cuts: "will save our country from fiscal ruin.”

More than 1 million people count on Houston-area food pantries, which are staring down empty shelves after losing $11 million in federal funding. Until recently, 100 tractor-trailers full of federally-funded food pulled up each month to the Houston Food Bank’s headquarters just east of downtown. Now, it’s down 60. “It’s been a lot like navigating a disaster,” Houston Bank CEO Brian Greene said. “The information is incoming and you have to make decisions, and then more information comes along and you pivot.” In total, the Trump administration cut 15% of the Houston Food Bank’s budget, said Greene. Breaking it down, that’s a loss of $7 million to buy food from local farmers, $3 million to distribute goods to 1,600 pantries and $1 million to help seniors and low-income families apply for health insurance.

The food bank will keep distributing to pantries, but they’ll have fewer choices, Greene said. And more than 200 seniors won’t get their monthly food boxes to help keep their shelves full. In the meantime, the food bank is struggling to figure out how to make up the money and food it is losing. Maybe it will be forced to cut staff. Maybe private donors or foundations will step up. Maybe grocery stores and farmers will donate too-small onions or imperfect carrots or whatever else usually hits the trash. A lot of maybes means a lot of uncertainty. "We'll take our shot," Greene said, turning to the annual impact of the cuts. “But there’s no way we can make up 20 million pounds (per year). My goodness.”

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

Greg Abbott calls out Texas House Democrats in push for bail crackdown

With his signature voucher legislation signed into law, Gov. Greg Abbott is going all in on a massive bail crackdown as the legislative session enters the final stretch. The Texas Republican wants lawmakers to prohibit pretrial release to defendants accused of several violent offenses, which would require a constitutional amendment — and the support of House Democrats, many of whom have opposed the effort in the past. With his signature voucher legislation signed into law, Gov. Greg Abbott is going all in on a massive bail crackdown as the legislative session enters the final stretch. The Texas Republican wants lawmakers to prohibit pretrial release to defendants accused of several violent offenses, which would require a constitutional amendment — and the support of House Democrats, many of whom have opposed the effort in the past.

With negotiations underway in the House, Abbott has started a pressure campaign on Democratic members, publicly naming those who represent districts where crimes were committed by individuals let out on bail. At a stop in Houston last week, the governor honed in on four local members: state Reps. Armando Walle, Ana Hernandez, Alma Allen and Jolanda Jones. The governor has swayed on exactly what he wants. The Senate passed a bill earlier this session that would give judges the power to deny bail for serious crimes, like rape and murder — without pushback from Abbott. But the governor has since started pushing for an even harder stance: automatically denying bail in those cases. The state Constitution currently prevents judges from denying bail to first-time offenders other than those accused of capital murder and for whom the state is seeking the death penalty. Abbott says the tougher line will “make Texas a safer place by tying the hands of judges who are releasing deadly, dangerous criminals.”

Read this article at San Antonio Express-News - Subscribers Only

Advocates find false info being fed to Texas legislators on pet store law

A national pet store chain has been implicated in a dishonest campaign to try and influence Texas lawmakers on an upcoming bill making its way through the legislature. The pet store chain is Petland, and they're engaged in a battle against The Ethical Pet Sale Bill (SB 1652 / HB 3458), which would encourage pet stores to stop selling at-risk animals from puppy mills and support shelters and rescue groups instead. The Ethical Pet Sale bill has support from rescue and animal groups across Texas, who are all grappling with a glut of animals on the streets and in overcrowded shelters. The pet overpopulation problem is worsened when pet stores import more animals from puppy mills in states like Missouri and Ohio. If Texas passes the bill, it will join a growing number of states and cities who've already passed similar laws including Dallas, Austin, Bryan, College Station, El Paso, Euless, Fort Worth, Houston, New Braunfels, Pasadena, San Antonio, The Colony, Sherman, and Waco.

Most reputable pet store chains such as PetSmart and PetCo do not sell cats and dogs. Petland does. The company operates 84 stores in the U.S., and fights bills like this by hiring lobbyists such as Jake Posey at Mercury Public Affairs and politically-oriented PR agencies to discourage legislators from supporting these bills. In this case, a two-page summary was distributed to some Texas state senators listing reasons why they should oppose SB ("The evidence from other states, especially California, demonstrates that these types of bans do more harm than good"), plus a list of organizations that are opposed. Most of the organizations opposed to the bill profit directly from animals, such as Petland and Puppy Dreams, a North Texas chain that also sells animals. But the list also had surprising names including PetSmart, PetCo, and Pet Supplies Plus — the three largest pet store chains who all have a history of supporting adoption of shelter animals. Their presence on the list caught the eye of animal advocacy groups such as Texas Humane Legislation Network and Humane World For Animals, who've worked with the big three in the past. "We became aware of Petland Inc.’s lobbyist, Jake Posey, apparently sharing the attached document with legislators, claiming the listed pet and pet product industry leaders are opposing this legislation," said a spokesperson from Humane World of Animals (HWA). "We checked in with contacts at Petco, Petsmart, and the American Pet Products Association, and all of them deny opposing this legislation or giving Petland permission to list them on this opposition letter. It’s very possible others listed in this letter also did not give their permission to be included — we only connected with the those listed above at this stage."

Read this article at Dallas CultureMap - Subscribers Only

Charlie Geren: More tax relief is coming your way

Look around. TVs are bigger, better and cheaper than ever. Computers? Way more powerful than they used to be, but they cost a lot less compared to what folks earn. Even cars — safer, more high-tech, and some even drive themselves — haven’t gone up in price nearly as fast as everything else. So, what about the Texas state government? Are our prices, taxes, going up or coming down? Do we produce a better product for a lower cost? Are we efficient? In many states, the idea that taxes always go up each year is unquestioned. Texas is the opposite. Texas has passed significant tax cuts in each and every legislative session since 2009. That is 16 years of tax cuts. Are Texas tax cutters running out of steam? Not at all. In Austin, we just passed the biggest tax cut in Texas history and arguably the biggest tax cut in any state at any time ever. Our massive tax cut, currently in the budget, will leave $51 billion additional dollars in the pockets of Texans.

How much money is $51 billion? Probably more than you think. With just the amount of money in this year’s tax cuts, you could build an entire AT&T Stadium, just as nice as the real JerryWorld in Arlington, every 20 miles along the highway all across Texas, the long way from El Paso to Texarkana. You would literally run out of cement before you would run out of tax cut dollars. It would almost be worth it to build them just to see the driver’s reactions. Will such a huge tax cut starve the Texas government? No. In fact, Texas ends up with surpluses most every year. Even in tough recession years since 2009, Texas cut taxes. Low-tax Texas shook off the recessions faster than virtually any other state and led the nation into economic recovery. It turns out that lowering tax rates is great for a healthy economy. And, unsurprisingly, low taxes are popular with taxpayers too. Texas’s population has grown by nearly 30% during these 16 years of unending tax cuts. By contrast, in the same period, the state of California came to be known for its high taxes and population loss.

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

Benson Varghese: Bill to limit lawsuit damages will cost Texans when they need help the most.

(Benson Varghese is the founder and managing partner of Varghese Summersett, a Fort Worth law firm that represents clients in significant wrongful death and injury cases. His book “Tapped In,” which discusses law-firm growth, will be released soon.) Imagine losing a loved one or suffering a life-altering injury — only to be told that the justice system can’t fully compensate you because lawmakers decided your pain has a limit. That’s exactly what a bill that has passed the Texas Senate would do. The legislation claims to fix a supposed epidemic of “nuclear verdicts,” or outrageously high jury awards in personal injury cases. But here’s the truth: Senate Bill 30 is a solution in search of a problem. And if the House approves it as well, it’s everyday Texans, not corporate wrongdoers, who will pay the price. What the bill’s supporters ignore is that Texas already has a system in place to address excessive verdicts.

Our courts don’t just rubber-stamp jury awards. Judges and appellate courts have long had and regularly use the power to reduce verdicts they believe are too high or unsupported by the evidence. The Texas Supreme Court, in particular, has taken a leading role in ensuring fairness. In a case called Gregory v. Chohan, the court rejected the practice of pulling large numbers out of thin air to suggest the value of human life — like comparing a loved one to a fighter jet or a Picasso painting. The justices ruled that damages must be supported by evidence, not emotion. And as Justice John Devine wrote in his concurring opinion, “the jury system holds its own cure” for excessive awards. That’s how the system is supposed to work — and it does. So, why do we need a new law to “fix” a system that’s already fixing itself? The push for the bill isn’t coming from ordinary Texans. It’s coming from powerful political action groups such as Texans for Lawsuit Reform, backed by corporate and insurance interests. Their goal is simple: make it cheaper to defend lawsuits and harder for injured people to recover what they’re owed. The bill isn’t about preventing abuse. It’s about protecting profits.

Read this article at Fort Worth Star-Telegram - Subscribers Only

Ex-Southlake pastor Robert Morris makes first court appearance Friday in child sex crime case

Robert Morris, the founding pastor of Southlake-based megachurch Gateway Church, is set to make his first court appearance in front of an Oklahoma judge Friday at 10 a.m. as he faces five different counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child dating back to the 1980s. Here’s everything you need to known about Morris’ case and what his initial hearing could mean for him. Morris first faced accusations nearly a year ago from Cindy Clemishire, who told religious blog The Wartburg Watch Morris abused her when she was 12 years old in 1982. The abuse lasted for more than four years when Clemishire resided in Oklahoma, she said. Morris, 63, resigned last June after admitting to “sexual inappropriate behavior” with a child in a statement to The Christian Post.

“When I was in my early twenties, I was involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady in a home where I was staying. It was kissing and petting and not intercourse, but it was wrong. This behavior happened on several occasions over the next few years,” Morris told the news outlet. It’s the only public statement Morris has made amid the claims and has not responded to previous requests for comment from KERA News. KERA News also reached out to Morris’ attorneys and will update this story with any response. Morris was officially indicted by a multi-county grand jury in Oklahoma City in March where he was charged with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child. “There can be no tolerance for those who sexually prey on children,” Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said at the time. “This case is all the more despicable because the alleged perpetrator was a pastor who exploited his position. The victim in this case has waited far too many years for justice to be done.”

Read this article at KERA - Subscribers Only

Ann Zadeh: Reducing speed limits is key to safer streets in Fort Worth. This bill is a must.

(Ann Zadeh is a former Fort Worth City Councilmember and current executive director of Community Design Fort Worth.) As Fort Worth continues to grow, so does the need to ensure our neighborhoods remain safe, livable, and connected. Our streets aren’t just corridors for moving cars — they’re the public spaces that frame our homes, our parks, our schools and our lives. Every child who rides a bike to a friend’s house, every older adult crossing the street and every neighbor walking a dog deserves to feel safe. But too many of our residential streets are still designed for speed, not safety. And far too often, we’re seeing the tragic consequences. In Fort Worth and across Texas, serious traffic crashes, including those involving pedestrians and cyclists, remain all too common.

This isn’t just a Fort Worth problem. According to the Texas Department of Transportation, 11 people die every day in crashes on our state’s roads. That includes people driving, walking, biking and using personal mobility devices. It includes Texans of all ages and from all walks of life. We can do better — and we know how. As a former City Council member and current executive director of Community Design Fort Worth, I’ve spent years working on transportation, planning and public space issues. During my time in office, I advocated for reducing speed limits on neighborhood streets from 30 mph to 25 mph, a modest but meaningful step to improve safety. Our city wanted to respond to residents who were asking for safer streets where they live, but the barriers in state law made it costly and complicated to take action. Under current Texas law, cities such as Fort Worth can reduce the speed limit below 30 mph only if they install signage on every block and conduct expensive traffic studies — even on quiet residential streets where everyone agrees that slower speeds are appropriate. The cost to do this citywide can be staggering. That’s why the City Council ultimately paused the effort back in 2015, despite broad community support and a clear desire to improve safety. Here’s the good news: A measure in the Texas Legislature, slated for consideration May 8 in the House Transportation Committee, would fix this outdated law and give cities more flexibility to make neighborhood streets safer.

Read this article at Fort Worth Star-Telegram - Subscribers Only

Senate bill would allow kids as young as 15 to be sent to adult Texas prisons

A Senate bill currently being considered would change a Texas law to allow 15-year old offenders to be sent to state prisons for adults. The age currently is 16. That change would apply to felons already in the state juvenile system who commit a second felony, like assaulting staff, or for "delinquent conduct." Senate Bill 1727 and a companion House bill are intended to help protect staff from violent juveniles. Brett Merfish, Youth Justice Director for the Texas Appleseed organization, said the suggested law change gives children fewer chances than adults. Texas has a "three-strike" rule for adult felons. "It doesn’t' allow for considering this child hit an officer while they're being restrained, or, maybe they had an outburst because of a mental health condition," she said. "And let's say they did kick or hit an officer, but there was no injury and the intent wasn't to hurt them. It doesn't allow for any of that. It just says, 'Okay — assault on a public servant, you're out of here, you are going to the adult system.' "

As of May 1, there were 29 juvenile inmates in the Youth Offender Program within Texas prisons. The Texas Juvenile Justice Department oversees young criminal offender programs and detention centers, including five correctional facilities and three halfway houses. About 700 juveniles as young as age 10 were in TJJD custody as of last summer, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Of those, about 80 percent are Black or Latino. Amnisty Freelen's son, Joshua Beasley, Jr., was 11 when he first entered the juvenile system for spray painting a Paris, Texas church with other boys. A month after he turned 16, he was transferred to the Wayne Scott Unit adult prison. Six months later, in March 2023, he wrapped a sheet around his neck and died in his cell. "In the adult system, Josh is the youngest person to die," Freelen said. She said youths in detention and detention officers deserve protection. Recently, a Dallas County juvenile detention officer was severely injured by a female in custody who was younger than 15.

Read this article at KERA - Subscribers Only

Dallas ISD shrinks deficit but still faces budget uncertainties

As bills to increase public school funding statewide are still making their way through the Texas Legislature, districts like Dallas are looking for ways to dig themselves out of a financial hole. During a Dallas school board briefing Thursday, Chief Financial Officer Eduardo Ramos told trustees he expects the projected budget deficit of $187 million to shrink to $104 million by September. “We have made some great strides in reducing the overall deficit by close to 83 million dollars,” he said. “We're headed in the right direction.” It’s not been easy: The district cut 86 positions as well as millions of dollars in office supplies and services from contractors. As deficits have grown, so have property values and property taxes, which fund schools.

State law requires property wealthy districts, Dallas included, to send some of its property tax money to Austin, for redistribution to property poor districts. This system, known as Robin Hood, or recapture, is meant to equitably fund education statewide. It’s rubbed some school board members the wrong way, including trustee Camille White. Dallas will send $104 million back to Austin this year — $44 more million than last year. It’s contributing to the district’s deficit. “A lot of our school districts are considered wealthy and we're sending money back to the state. But a lot of us need that recapture money to help our own students, she said. “The Robin Hood, aka recapture, they’re actually robbing the hood.” Despite the deficit, next year’s budget includes raises for all employees, from teachers and cafeteria workers to custodians and bus drivers. Raises will range from 2.2% to 3.6%. Dallas ISD will pass its proposed budget later this month.

Read this article at KERA - Subscribers Only

A crash involving a Fort Worth family could change DWI laws

North Texas lawmakers are calling for stiffer penalties for intoxicated drivers after three members of a Fort Worth family were killed in a November 2023 crash. Lauren and Zach Muckleroy, 44, and their two children — 12-year-old Judson and nine-year-old Lindsay — were on their way to a family member’s house for Thanksgiving when Marine 1st. Lt. Connor McKim, driving north, veered into the southbound lanes of U.S. 281 in Blanco County. “They never arrived,” Rep. Charlie Geren, a Fort Worth Republican who is carrying the Senate bill in the Texas House, told a panel of lawmakers on May 8. McKim had a blood alcohol content more than three times the legal limit and was driving about 83 mph when the speed limit was 70 mph, according to a report from the Texas Department of Public Safety. He also died in the crash.

“The consequences of driving while intoxicated endanger the loves of every person on the road, and too many Texans have become victims,” Geren said to members of the House Subcommittee on New Offenses and Changed Penalties. House Bill 2320 increases the penalty for driving while intoxicated for first-time offenders from a Class B misdemeanor to a Class A misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to one year in jail and/or a fine of up to $4,000. It would be a state jail felony if the driver had previously been convicted of driving, flying, boating or operating an amusement ride while intoxicated. It would also be a state jail felony if the driver’s blood alcohol content was .15% or more, according to the bill. A person is considered legally intoxicated in Texas if their blood alcohol content is .08% or higher. A state jail felony in Texas carries a penalty of between 180 days and two years in jail and a possible fine of up to $10,000. Lauren Muckleroy testified in favor of the bill when it was considered by a Senate committee on April 1. Defense attorneys testified against the bill on Thursday, including a representative from the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. Some who spoke raised concerns about how the bill would affect first-time offenders. “You don’t have to be a bad person to get a DWI,” said Mark Thiessen, a defense attorney specializing in DWI cases.

Read this article at Fort Worth Star-Telegram - Subscribers Only

Texas congressman questions immigration policies

South Texas Democrat Vicente Gonzalez has criticized both the Biden and Trump administrations on their handling of the border. Under President Joe Biden, he says the “CBP One” app overloaded the southern border. “It was ridiculous. A couple of clicks, you’d get an appointment. You’d show up. And you’d get interviewed by an asylum officer, if there was one,” Gonzalez said. On President Donald Trump’s border policy, he says, “I have a problem with the administration nabbing people off the streets of America, putting them on airplanes and deporting them in violation of court orders.” The Trump administration says its deportation of a man named Kilmar Abrego Garcia, to a prison in El Salvador, was an administrative error.

“I think he was very deportable,” Gonzlez said. “I’m not here defending Abrego Garcia. What I am here defending is rule of law, the U.S. Constitution.” The Supreme Court ordered the administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return, but Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, says the president tried. “He’s outside of the custody of the United States government and the President of El Salvador has said, basically, he’s not sending him back. I’m not sure what else the president can do,” Cornyn said. However, Gonzalez says, “The United States government is under an obligation to assure bring him back, have his hearing, let him go through due process, and then send him home.”

Read this article at Border Report - Subscribers Only

Texas Renaissance Festival must be sold, district judge rules

A Grimes County District Judge has ruled the the Texas Renaissance Festival must be sold, ending a two-year legal battle over the popular festival. Judge Gary W. Chaney of the 506th state District Court issued the ruling Wednesday following several days of testimony last week in the civil case filed in August 2023. Chaney also said the festival's owner must pay over $23 million in damages to cover money lost by the buyer during the dispute, including attorney’s fees.

The original lawsuit, filed by RW Lands Inc., says Texas Stargate, Inc., Royal Campground, Inc., and Texas RF, Inc. agreed to purchase the Renaissance property, assets and nearby property for $60 million. However, the suit claims festival founder George Coulam and his company did not provide the required documents for the sale, and the plaintiffs learned on April 7, 2023, that Coulam would not close the sale on April 8, 2023, as planned. “Indeed, the August 8, 2023 closing date came and went without (Coulam) complying with their closing obligations,” the suit states. In a response filed with the courts on Sept. 11, 2023, Coulam denied the allegations and claimed the plaintiffs had not complied with their obligations to close the sale. “Defendants deny that either party was ready to close on August 8, 2023. Defendants deny that there was a valid contract on August 8, 2023, as all parties expressed the need to alter the contract provisions to provide more specificity and clarity,” court documents state. Parties in the suit could not be immediately reached for comment, however festival officials posted a statement to social media.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

Houston autonomous vehicle company plans to have no drivers on Texas Highways. Here’s what to know.

A Houston autonomous vehicle company plans to have no drivers in their self-driving trucks, making it one of the many businesses bringing the large, driverless vehicles to Texas highways. Bot Auto completed fully autonomous testing between Houston and San Antonio since last fall. The company plans to launch fully driverless operations for an initial four months. Bart Teeter, director of fleet and operational safety with Bot Auto, presented the company's technology and trucks to local transportation and law enforcement agencies on Thursday at the Houston TranStar building. “One of the things that we’re very proud of is we're a later entry into the market, and so we've been able to leverage the advances in A.I. that some of the companies that started before us didn't have,” he said.

Teeter, who formerly worked at the Texas Highway Patrol, said safety is one of the reasons he advocates for these vehicles on Texas highways. Texas led the nation in fatal large truck crashes between 2018 and 2022, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Teeter believes that using these smart trucks to carry freight could help prevent further crashes caused by humans. “We like to brag, right? We’re Texans. Things are bigger in Texas. Well, the one thing I never really wanted to brag about was how big our crash problem is,” he said. Bot Auto spokesperson Jeremy Desel said the Voluntary Safety Self-Assessment — documents encouraged by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for companies that develop and launch automated driving systems — will be released in the next couple of weeks. Teeter said the trucks will operate fully autonomously, without a driver, by the end of summer. It will not haul hazardous materials. Bot Auto was founded in 2023. It operates a fleet of driverless trucks and partners with other businesses to provide autonomous freight transportation.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

Lawmakers hope desalination can bring new water to Texas. Critics want protections for the coast.

In an effort to shore up the state’s future water supply, Texas lawmakers have stressed the need to secure new sources and point to desalination as a potential solution to looming shortages. But environmentalists, coastal residents, and some legislators caution that without stronger regulation, the build-out of half a dozen proposed desalination plants threatens to harm coastal bays and estuaries that drive tourism and host dozens of endangered species. “If we want seawater desalination to be our long-term water supply strategy, we better do it right,” said Evgenia Spears, the water program coordinator at Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter. Seawater desalination, which removes salt to produce potable water, leaves behind a concentrated brine that must be disposed of, usually back into the ocean. Experts say the salty discharge can disrupt the balance of the surrounding ecosystem, but the state has few rules and regulations governing its disposal.

Current regulation requires only that salinity levels in estuaries are maintained to support “aquatic life uses,” but doesn’t define what that means or establish numerical standards. The Sierra Club and other environmental groups have called for regulation that would require desalination plants to dispose of brine farther offshore, at least three miles into the Gulf, where it can more easily mix with ocean water. Much of Texas’ coastline is protected by barrier islands, which create a series of bays isolated from larger ocean currents. Within many of those bays are estuaries, home to delicate ecosystems that thrive in the brackish water where rivers meet the ocean. Some House lawmakers filed proposals this session meant to force the state to adopt stronger standards around salinity, but their efforts have made little headway. The first and only permitted seawater desalination plant in Texas is the City of Corpus Christi’s Inner Harbor Water Treatment Campus, which is expected to break ground this year and can discharge up to 51.5 million gallons of concentrated brine daily into the Corpus Christi ship channel. At least four more desalination projects are proposed to go online in Corpus Christi within the next decade.

Read this article at San Antonio Express-News - Subscribers Only

County Stories

Communities in Schools' mentoring program can have life-changing impact for Comal County students

Communities in Schools of South Central Texas’ (CIS) mentoring program provides students with another positive adult in their lives who helps them gain confidence and forge a path to success. Mentors spend at least 30 minutes a week with their mentees, whether it be through playing games, tutoring or providing friendship. CIS currently serves 82 students with mentors in Comal ISD and New Braunfels ISD, and there are more than 150 mentors throughout all of its affiliates. CIS looks forward to continuing to grow the program, said CEO Susan Wetz. Mentor Marcia Kelly was a teacher in NBISD for 20 years and she remembers that there was always a CIS mentor on campus. She said it is an honor to now serve as a mentor and thinks their presence on campuses is invaluable.

Read this article at New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung - Subscribers Only

City Stories

Houston ISD announces 21 principal departures

At least 21 principals won't be returning to their posts for the 2025-26 school year, HISD leaders announced Thursday. The district said five principals are leaving due to personal reasons, four of which were celebrated at Thursday's Board of Managers meeting. Five departures are due to performance, the district said, noting that 25% of HISD principals left at the end of the 2023-24 school year due to performance. Eleven principals will take on new roles in HISD. The district declined to share which schools will see their principals leave. On Thursday, HISD's Chief of Schools announced principal departures at Wheatley High School, Field Elementary, Fleming Middle School and Burbank Middle School. Sandi Massey said Wheatley's Sabrina Cuby-King and Burbank's David Knittle will retire, while Field's Trevor Karr will move back to his home state of Michigan and Fleming's Devin Adams will pursue a doctorate at Harvard University.

"As chief of schools, I realized that Houston is not the only place where students see the best possible opportunity to reach their educational potential, so some of these leaders are at the end of their rows, but some of them are continuing on and transitioning to a new journey in a new community and that brings me great joy," Massey said, before announcing Karr's departure. Trevor Karr, who is completing his ninth year in HISD, has served at Briargrove, Pugh, and Field elementary schools. Massey praised Karr for maintaining Field's A-rating under state accountability measures. "But Michigan is calling him back home," Massey said, before thanking him. Adams, a former HISD student himself, taught at Welch Middle School and Hilliard Elementary before serving as an assistant principal. Adams has been the principal of Fleming for three years, Massey said, before noting Fleming's accountability rating jumped from an F-rated campus in 2023 to a B-rated campus in 2024. Knittle, who began in HISD in 1996 as a teacher aide, has served at a Sharpstown school and Wisdom High School before becoming assistant principal at Burbank in 2005. Knittle has served as Burbank's principal for seven years.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

National Stories

Even with DOGE cuts, the U.S. has spent $166 billion more than last year

Even as President Donald Trump and the efficiency-geared U.S. DOGE Service seek to cut programs and dramatically reduce the size of the government workforce, the federal deficit increased by $196 billion so far this fiscal year, as spending on social safety-net services and defense programs continue to climb. You have 3 extra accounts for friends, family Now included with Premium. Each account gets its own login for personalized access. Share extra accounts The government spent $342 billion more in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1 than it did in the same period during the previous fiscal year, the Congressional Budget Office, lawmakers’ nonpartisan bookkeeper, reported Thursday. It also brought in $146 billion more, including a 7 percent boost in individual income tax that far outpaced officials’ projections. From January through April, the first three and a half months of Trump’s term, spending increased by $166 billion.

The figures underscore long-standing dynamics in the nation’s fiscal health, and also the White House’s aggressive priorities from Trump’s first 100 days. Defense spending increased by $39 billion compared with fiscal 2024, CBO found. Spending on the Department of Homeland Security, which the administration has supercharged in attempts to deport 1 million immigrants in the calendar year, jumped by $18 billion. But the largest drivers of the spending are the items that traditionally weigh on the U.S. balance sheet: Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. As baby boomers reach peak retirement age, they are drawing down benefits in the Social Security and Medicare trust fund faster than they can be replenished. The two programs combined have spent nearly $1.5 trillion in the fiscal year, up $70 billion from the past year. The bleak spending picture has factored into the rhetoric surrounding Trump and Republicans’ massive tax, immigration and energy package, legislation that the president and his allies have dubbed their “big, beautiful bill.” Fiscal hard-liners are seeking guarantees of at least $2 trillion in spending cuts as part of the measure, which seeks to make permanent trillions more dollars in tax cuts from Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Republicans are struggling to meet that mark. Trump on Wednesday asked House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) to allow tax rates to go up on filers earning more than $2.5 million a year in taxable income, which would lower the cost of the legislation, but the GOP also plans to use an accounting maneuver to write-off the cost of extending expiring policies that are already in place.

Read this article at Washington Post - Subscribers Only

‘Dismantling one of the strongest tools we have’: Conservatives fret HHS cuts

The Trump administration’s decision to gut reproductive health research is alarming some conservatives, who worry it undercuts the president’s pro-family agenda. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. laid off thousands of federal employees last month, including about 80 who worked at the Centers for Disease Control’s Division of Reproductive Health, according to three former CDC staffers granted anonymity to speak candidly on agency dynamics. The office collected state and national data on live births, abortion trends and fertility treatment outcomes — the kind of information policymakers rely on to assess and improve maternal and infant health care, said Isaac Michael, a former HHS statistician who worked on the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System before he was laid off. “If you cut PRAMS, this is dismantling one of the strongest tools we have to prevent maternal deaths, to reduce infant mortality and to close socioeconomic health gaps,” he said.

Michael — who said he voted for President Donald Trump in 2024 based on his anti-abortion stance and supports the president’s push to rein in federal spending — said ending PRAMS contradicts the administration’s pro-family messaging. By tracking maternal health behaviors before, during and after pregnancy, Michael said the PRAMS team helped identify health disparities, evaluate the effectiveness of Medicaid and Women, Infant and Children (WIC) programs for pregnant people and understand causes of preterm birth and infant death. “Without it, we are flying blind,” Michael said. “We lose the ability to see where we are failing mothers and babies until it’s too late.” Trump and members of his administration have been silent on the cuts. The White House did not respond to requests for comment about the future of the division’s gutted programs. HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard said in a statement to POLITICO that “critical programs” from the CDC’s Division of Reproductive Health “will continue under the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA) alongside multiple agencies and programs to improve coordination of health resources for American.”

Read this article at Politico - Subscribers Only

FEMA's acting administrator is replaced a day after congressional testimony

The Federal Emergency Management Agency faced fresh upheaval Thursday just weeks before the start of hurricane season when the acting administrator was pushed out and replaced by another official from the Department of Homeland Security. The abrupt change came the day after Cameron Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL who held the job for the last few months, testified on Capitol Hill that he did not agree with proposals to dismantle an organization that helps plan for natural disasters and distributes financial assistance. “I do not believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” he said Wednesday.

President Donald Trump has suggested that individual states, not the federal government, should take the lead on hurricanes, tornadoes and other crises. He has been sharply critical of FEMA’s performance, particularly in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene. David Richardson, a former Marine Corps officer who served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Africa, will run FEMA for the time being. He does not appear to have any experience in managing natural disasters. He currently serves as the Department of Homeland Security’s assistant secretary for countering weapons of mass destruction. The administration made no statement about any potential permanent nominee. Nor did the White House answer questions about Richardson’s background, the impact of Hamilton’s testimony or whether the president personally ordered his dismissal.

Read this article at Associated Press - Subscribers Only

Trump names Fox News host Jeanine Pirro as interim U.S. attorney for D.C.

President Donald Trump on Thursday said he is appointing Jeanine Pirro — a Fox News host whose misstatements about the 2020 election were cited in two defamation lawsuits against the network — as the interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Pirro, a former New York judge and district attorney, is to replace Ed Martin, Trump’s initial nominee as D.C.'s top prosecutor who has spent 15 tumultuous weeks in office. Trump, in a Truth Social post, described Pirro as “incredibly well qualified for this position.” Brash and often blunt-spoken, Pirro has stood out among a stable of conservative Fox commentators as a passionate defender of Trump, whom she got to know during his years as a developer in New York. Her false statements about the 2020 election were cited as evidence during the Dominion Voting System’s litigation against Fox that resulted in the network paying a $787.5 million settlement in 2023.

An episode of her show after the election “was cancelled because executives were worried about her discussing conspiracy theories,” the Delaware judge overseeing the case concluded. Pirro is currently a defendant in the $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit filed against Fox by another voting technology company, Smartmatic. That case could go to trial later this year in New York. Michael Caputo, an adviser to Martin and a former Trump strategist, said that the president’s ties to Pirro are rooted in New York, where they traveled in high-level GOP circles. “Once when I was with the president and she walked up, it was almost like they were from the same block,” Caputo said during a phone interview. “She’s a force of nature.” But Caputo also predicted that Pirro’s history as a commentator would be fodder for rigorous scrutiny from Democrats if Trump seeks to nominate her as the U.S. attorney. “There’s lots of material,” Caputo said.

Read this article at Washington Post - Subscribers Only

Trump fires Librarian of Congress

President Donald Trump fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden on Thursday, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to The Hill. Hayden was the first woman and the first African American to be Librarian of Congress. A spokesperson for the library told The Hill in an email that “Tonight, the White House informed Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden that she has been relieved of her position.” Democrats in Congress condemned the decision by the administration.

“Over the course of her tenure, Dr. Hayden brought the Library of Congress to the people, with initiatives that reached into rural communities and made the Library accessible to all Americans, in person and online,” Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) said in a statement on Thursday. “While President Trump wants to ban books and tell Americans what to read – or not to read at all, Dr. Hayden has devoted her career to making reading and the pursuit of knowledge available to everyone,” the Democratic senator added. “Be like Dr. Hayden.” In the press release, Heinrich also shared a copy of the email Hayden received at 6:56 p.m. informing her of the termination. “Carla, On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as the Librarian of Congress is terminated effective immediately. Thank you for your service,” wrote Deputy Director of Presidential Personnel Trent Morse.

Read this article at The Hill - Subscribers Only

Up to 1,000 transgender troops are being moved out of the military in new Pentagon order

The Pentagon will immediately begin moving as many as 1,000 openly identifying transgender service members out of the military and give others 30 days to self-identify under a new directive issued Thursday. Buoyed by Tuesday’s Supreme Court decision allowing the Trump administration to enforce a ban on transgender individuals in the military, the Defense Department will begin going through medical records to identify others who haven’t come forward. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who issued the latest memo, made his views clear after the court’s decision. “No More Trans @ DoD,” Hegseth wrote in a post on X. Earlier in the day, before the court acted, Hegseth said that his department is leaving wokeness and weakness behind. “No more pronouns,” he told a special operations forces conference in Tampa. “No more dudes in dresses. We’re done with that s---.”

Department officials have said it’s difficult to determine exactly how many transgender service members there are, but medical records will show those who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, who show symptoms or are being treated. Those troops would then be involuntarily forced out of the service. And no one with that diagnosis will be allowed to enlist. Gender dysphoria occurs when a person’s biological sex does not match up with their gender identity. Officials have said that as of Dec. 9, 2024, there were 4,240 troops diagnosed with gender dysphoria in the active duty, National Guard and Reserve. But they acknowledge the number may be higher. There are about 2.1 million total troops serving. The memo released Thursday mirrors one sent out in February, but any action was stalled at that point by several lawsuits.

Read this article at Associated Press - Subscribers Only

Department of Justice opens criminal investigation into NY AG Letitia James

The Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James, Fox News has learned. A source familiar with the matter confirmed that a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia sent out subpoenas related to accusations that James misrepresented a single-family home in Virginia as her primary residence to obtain more favorable loan terms. News of the federal probe follows a criminal referral from the Trump administration's Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte, who requested the DOJ investigate James over that matter and another incident in which she allegedly misrepresented the number of livable units in a multifamily Brooklyn house to once again obtain better loan terms.

"These baseless and long-discredited allegations, put to rest by my April 24 letter to the Department of Justice, are suddenly back in the news just days after President Trump publicly attacked Attorney General James," James' attorney, Abbe Lowell, said Thursday. "This appears to be the political retribution President Trump threatened to exact that AG Bondi assured the Senate would not occur on her watch. If prosecutors are genuinely interested in the truth, we are prepared to meet false claims with facts." After Pulte's criminal referral was sent to the Justice Department, specifically U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Lowell followed up with his own letter to Bondi and the Justice Department, accusing the president of seeking "political retribution." James has been part of a group of Democratic attorneys general who have sued to halt many of Trump's orders during his first few months in the Oval Office. Additionally, James was the lead prosecutor in a case she brought against Trump and the Trump Organization that alleged the president, while he was a candidate, falsified business records to obtain more favorable loan terms. He was ultimately ordered by a judge to pay hundreds of millions, but is still appealing the ruling.

Read this article at Fox News - Subscribers Only

Lead Stories

Investors add Fed rate uncertainty to tariff murkiness

Investors grappling with uncertainty over the economic fallout from President Donald Trump's tariffs are facing the likelihood that the chaotic trade backdrop means the path of monetary policy remains up in the air. The Federal Reserve kept rates steady on Wednesday, as expected, and said the risks of both higher inflation and unemployment had risen, leaving the U.S. central bank in no hurry to take any interest-rate actions for the foreseeable future and rendering the "appropriate response for monetary policy" unclear. A slowdown has yet to emerge in economic data, but investors are bracing for potential damage from the Trump administration's sweeping tariffs, while the trade backdrop remains in flux as the White House negotiates with trading partners. That is leading some investors to be more cautious, focusing on inflation-protected assets and shares of companies that stand a better chance of weathering a downturn.

With the central bank on the sidelines for now, investors said asset prices were primed to be even more sensitive to important economic data and trade developments as market participants parse them for clues about the Fed's likely next move. "There's nothing investors like less than uncertainty and the Fed isn't in a position to offer them certainty," said Josh Jamner, senior investment strategy analyst at ClearBridge Investments. In a press conference following the U.S. central bank's monetary policy decision, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said trade policy remains a source of uncertainty that affirms the Fed's need to maintain a wait-and-see approach. "Powell is like every other investor: just waiting to see how this plays out," said Robert Christian, head of Absolute Return Portfolio Management at Franklin Templeton Investment Solutions. After cutting rates by a total of one percentage point last year, the Fed has held its benchmark rate at 4.25% to 4.5% so far in 2025, but investors broadly have been expecting more easing to come this year. Market expectations following Wednesday's meeting were similar to where they stood prior to the decision, with Fed fund futures indicating an expectation of about three 25-basis-point reductions by December, with the July meeting tipped as the likely next cut. The projected further easing stems from the expectation that the hit to economic growth will outweigh any push higher in inflation, said Marta Norton, chief investment strategist at retirement and wealth services provider Empower.

Read this article at Reuters - Subscribers Only

Houston-area voters reject right-wing school board candidates. Vouchers may be to blame.

Several conservative candidates with right-wing support lost their bids for Houston-area school boards Saturday night, a change that some experts said could reflect dissatisfaction with the current state of national politics. Even though school boards are supposed to be nonpartisan entities, many ultra-conservative candidates have been elected with support from outside political organizations and large private donations, leading to book bans, censorship of instructional material and restrictive gender policies. In Katy, Fort Bend and other districts across Texas, trustees who supported those conservative policies, lost their bids for re-election. “You could call it a kind of a mini-reactionary bump ... A lot of voters may choose to go vote because this is the only way that they can show their displeasure at the current moment,” University of Houston political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus said. “(It’s) a global factor that would definitely produce an outcome where you have more moderate to liberal candidates winning.”

In Fort Bend ISD, a district that recently passed restrictive library policies and became the latest district to adopt a gender policy that would require district staff to “out” transgender students to their parents, the majority may have shifted. The 80,000-student district straddling Fort Bend and Harris counties has had a conservative lean the past few years, but this election saw two liberal candidates who are opposed to the state’s Bible-infused Bluebonnet curriculum, Angie Wierzbicki and Afshi Charania, beat out an incumbent trustee, Rick Garcia, who voted in favor of the library and gender policies, and Cheryl Anne Buford, a conservative education leader who has worked in the intersection of faith and education. Angela Collins and Allison Drew also lost their seats. “What I heard was they were tired of the hate. They were tired of the divisiveness. They were tired of culture war issues that were wrapped in terms like 'parental rights,' when that's not what they were,” Wierzbicki said of her win. “I still strongly believe that this should be a non-partisan role. I think there is a lot of common ground, actually, across the spectrum, and that was being overshadowed by hyper politicized agendas.” In Katy ISD, there was a similar swing from ultra-In Katy ISD, there was a similar swing from ultra-conservatism, with trustee Lance Redmon, who voted against the district’s gender policy, and trustee-elect James Cross, a well-known former administrator who pledged to bring board meetings “back to boring,” beating out the incumbent Board President Victor Perez who ran on an openly conservative campaign. Redmon also beat a liberal candidate, Tammy Reed and a write-in candidate, Kris Fields. Statewide, comfortably conservative boards were disrupted by local elections on the same day that Gov. Greg Abbott signed a $1 billion school voucher proposal into law.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

Texas attorney general announces vote fraud charges against 6 people

A county judge, a former elections administrator and three other elected officials are among a half-dozen people indicted in an alleged “vote harvesting” scheme in a small south Texas county, state Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Wednesday. “Elected officials who think they can cheat to stay in power will be held accountable. No one is above the law,” Paxton said in a statement. According to Paxton’s office, Frio County Judge Rochelle Camacho faces three counts of vote harvesting; former county elections administrator Carlos Segura faces one count of evidence tampering; Pearsall City Council members Ramiro Trevino and Racheal Garza face one count each of vote harvesting; Pearsall Independent School District Trustee Adriann Ramirez faces three counts of vote harvesting; and campaign worker Rosa Rodriguez faces two counts of vote harvesting.

Frio County has a population of about 18,000 residents and is about 65 miles southwest of San Antonio. Republicans have long sought to curb the role of intermediaries in elections, but critics contend that some voters rely on third parties to ensure their ballots are turned in on time. The Texas Legislature approved a sweeping election law overhaul in 2021 that, among other provisions, outlawed “vote harvesting services,” essentially collecting ballots in exchange for compensation or in massive amounts. The law is being challenged in court, which prompted a temporary hold on state investigations into vote harvesting claims last year, but Paxton appealed and was allowed to continue seeking charges. The League of United Latin American Citizens, a voting rights advocacy group, has accused Paxton, who is running against Sen. John Cornyn (R) in Texas’s 2026 Senate election, of targeting Hispanic and Democratic voters.

Read this article at The Hill - Subscribers Only

Trump administration to announce trade deal with Britain

President Trump is expected to announce on Thursday that the United States will strike a “comprehensive” trade agreement with Britain. Mr. Trump teased a new trade agreement in a social media post on Wednesday night, though he did not specify which nation was part of the deal. On Thursday, a senior British official confirmed that a deal with the United States had been reached. And on Thursday morning, Mr. Trump was back on social media to confirm that it was, in fact, a deal with the U.K. “The agreement with the United Kingdom is a full and comprehensive one that will cement the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom for many years to come,” he wrote. “Because of our long time history and allegiance together, it is a great honor to have the United Kingdom as our FIRST announcement. Many other deals, which are in serious stages of negotiation, to follow!”

Mr. Trump is expected to announce the deal at 10 a.m. from the Oval Office. The British official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, did not offer details, beyond saying that the deal would be good for both Britain and the United States. The agreement would be the first deal announced since Mr. Trump imposed stiff tariffs on dozens of America’s trading partners. He later paused those temporarily in order to allow other nations to reach agreements with the United States. A deal between the United States and Britain could be a significant win for both countries, which have long sought closer economic cooperation. Details of the agreement were not immediately clear. Both nations have discussed lowering British tariffs on U.S. cars and farm goods, as well as removing British taxes on U.S. technology companies. It also was not clear whether the agreement had actually been finalized. Timothy C. Brightbill, an international trade attorney at Wiley Rein, said the announcement would probably be “just an agreement to start the negotiations, identifying a framework of issues to be discussed in the coming months.”

Read this article at New York Times - Subscribers Only

State Stories

Kelley Shannon: Don't mess with Texans' right to know what our government is up to

(Kelley Shannon is executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.) Sunlight is starting to break through at the Capitol in the final month of the Texas legislative session. Open government measures have won passage in the House of Representatives with bipartisan support, and more House votes are scheduled on legislation championed by the broad-based Texas Sunshine Coalition. However, this transparency legislation is still waiting to be heard in the Senate. Action is needed soon in the upper chamber to protect Texans’ information rights before the Legislature adjourns June 2. It’s simple: Access to information builds public trust in government.

House members approved House Bill 4219 by Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, requiring governmental bodies to respond to Texas Public Information Act requests, even if no such records exist, and establishing a complaint system for failure to respond. The common-sense measure is now in the Senate, where Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, is the author of the companion bill. Also moving in the House are HB 2248, by Rep. John Smithee, R-Amarillo, allowing recovery of attorneys’ fees in certain Texas Public Information Act lawsuits, and HB 3719, by Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, restoring access to dates of birth in public records to help lenders, landlords, journalists and voters verify someone’s identity when there’s a common name. House Bills 4990 and 4991, by Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, are gaining traction, too. They require the Attorney General’s Office to operate an open government hotline and require open government training for outside lawyers hired by governments to handle Public Information Act requests. While advocating for positive open government legislation, transparency proponents have also been speaking out about measures that would thwart the free flow of information. For instance, Senate Bill 986 by Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, which passed the Senate on Wednesday, would flip the Texas Public Information Act upside down, undoing the law’s structure that has served Texans well for over 50 years.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

Texas House moves to shore up telework rules for state workers

Legislation creating rules that spell out how state agencies can allow employees to work remotely passed with overwhelming support Wednesday in the Texas House. House Bill 5196, by state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, was inspired by a March order from Gov. Greg Abbott that agencies start bringing back employees who had been working remotely since the pandemic. The bill would establish a framework for telework policies within state agencies, which currently have myriad approaches. Some require workers to be in the office every workday, while others let large numbers — if not the majority — work remotely, either full- or part-time. The bill “provides a practical, structured solution for our state agencies to offer telework arrangements with clear expectations,” Capriglione said on the House floor.

The legislation passed 132-11 with no floor debate. Nearly 150,000 people work for the state’s more than 100 agencies, and most of them work in the office, according to state officials. Many agencies, however, found that they were able to raise productivity, save money on office utility bills and leases, and retain employees by offering broad work-from-home flexibility. Although telework is nothing new in state government, the practice came under fire in recent months after President Donald Trump ordered federal workers to return to their offices — largely vacant in the years after the 2020 pandemic lockdowns forced most of the nation’s nonessential workforce into their homes during Trump’s first term. Capriglione’s bill comes weeks after Abbott ordered agencies to review their postpandemic telework rules and update them to have the most on-site workers as possible. He said the legislation erases gray areas in the law. The pandemic resulted in more state employees working remotely without updated policies covering those arrangements — while Abbott’s directive sought to return to prepandemic conditions without much clarity on how to account for office space and parking challenges, among others, Capriglione said during committee testimony in April.

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

James Armstrong: Campaign donations raise eyebrows in West Dallas

(James Armstrong is CEO of Builders of Hope Development Corporation and senior pastor of Community Fellowship Church in West Dallas.) A recently released campaign finance report revealed that the political action committee Revitalize Dallas, funded by a $500,000 contribution from short-term rental company Airbnb, has put major funding behind three Dallas City Council candidates in districts 4, 6 and 8: Maxie Johnson, Monica Alonzo and Erik Wilson. While it’s not unusual for special-interest groups to get involved in municipal elections, the magnitude of the donations and circumstances around Airbnb’s interests at City Hall are causing concern among community members. In the District 6 race, which includes West Dallas, the Revitalize Dallas PAC contributed more than $150,000 to former council member Alonzo, who was voted out of office in 2017. This election cycle is Alonzo’s fourth attempt to regain her seat.

For some West Dallas leaders, it’s déjà vu mixed with a fear that a politician they voted out of office eight years ago for working against their interests might have the opportunity to return. In June 2023, the Dallas City Council voted to ban short-term rentals in single-family neighborhoods. Six months later, a Dallas district court judge placed a temporary injunction on the ban. That injunction was upheld by a state appeals court in February. Less than two months later, Airbnb Inc., through Revitalize Dallas PAC, is following up its legal victories by assuring that its allies are sitting around the horseshoe.But here’s what we do know: Every City Council candidate received a questionnaire from the PAC. Six of the nine questions on that document related to support for short-term rentals. The current council members in districts 4, 6 and 8 were vehement supporters of the ban on short-term rentals in single-family neighborhoods. Council member Omar Narvaez, who beat Alonzo in 2017, explained “They are not short-term rentals; they are illegal indoor entertainment event centers,” after Dallas police busted up a house party in an Airbnb rental in West Dallas that had over 200 attendees.

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

406 Houston ISD teachers will not return to their positions in 2025-26 due to no certification

Houston ISD informed 406 uncertified teachers they cannot return in the 2025-26 school year because they did not make "adequate progress toward certification" within a two-year period. The district hires uncertified teachers with the expectation that those teachers will earn certifications within that certification waiver time frame. Teachers had regular progress checks and prior notice of the consequences for failing to obtain certification, HISD stated. The district met with these uncertified teachers in meetings on Monday. "While some of these employees are eligible to move to other roles in the district, including as apprentice teachers, there is not currently an estimate of how many will choose to apply and how many will be hired into other roles," according to a spokesperson.

Like many districts in Texas, HISD has been resorting to uncertified teachers to fill vacancies. The state's largest district saw the percentage of uncertified teachers it employees increase to 19% in October 2024 from 12% in October 2023, a records analysis showed. HISD is filling classrooms amid higher departure levels compared with years past: about 4,700 teachers of the district's approximate 11,000 teachers left in 2023-24. About 1 in 5 teachers, or just over 2,000 teachers out of around 10,000, were “working toward certification" in August, according to district records. In December, records show about the same share of teachers were seeking certification. The district reached out to the largest alternative certification programs in Texas for data-sharing agreements to provide it with information to track HISD certification candidates' progress, officials told the Houston Chronicle in December. That in turn lets HISD notify a teacher whether they are on- or off-track toward certification.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

Texas House passes anti-NIMBY bill that would make it harder to kill zoning changes

Five years ago, a Travis County judge threw out a rewrite of Austin’s zoning ordinances the City Council had passed in hopes of increasing affordable housing. The plaintiffs in the case were a group of homeowners who sued under a little-known state law known as the “tyrant’s veto,” which allows 20% of landowners to petition to kill a rezoning proposal in their neighborhood and requires a supermajority city council vote to override such protests. But in a bipartisan vote Tuesday, the Texas House approved a bill that would defang the statute, which traces its origins to the Jim Crow era and which so-called NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) groups across the state have invoked to quash various rezoning proposals. House Bill 24, a priority of Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows, would increase to 60% the percentage of landowners within 200 feet of a proposed zone change needed to formally protest it. It also would allow city councils to overrule those petitions with a simple majority vote.

Republican state Rep. Angelia Orr of Itasca, who authored HB 24, said that the tyrant’s veto had been used to nix plans for a hospital expansion in Dallas, student housing in Bryan and Habitat for Humanity homes in Austin. HB 24 “ensures zoning decisions align with community goals, strategic growth plans and housing needs, rather than being derailed by small but vocal opposition,” Orr told her colleagues at a committee hearing in late March when she formally introduced the legislation. At the hearing, representatives from a wide range of groups that almost always disagree on policy proposals — Environment Texas and the Texas Association of Business among them — spoke in support of the measure. Among lawmakers, the legislation — which cleared the lower chamber Tuesday on an 83-56 vote — has likewise garnered both bipartisan support and bipartisan opposition.

Read this article at Austin American-Statesman - Subscribers Only

Why university professors say Texas Senate Bill 37 would be disastrous for higher education

A Texas House committee is proposing to eliminate several controversial measures targeting higher education from a Senate-approved bill that seeks to remove university faculty from shared governance and hiring decisions, while restricting required coursework for students. As the Texas House Higher Education Committee took up Senate Bill 37 late Tuesday, with discussions stretching into early Wednesday, dozens of professors and students sat in stiff chairs urging lawmakers to reject the legislation. The central debate between the bill's proponents and opponents focused on a key question: When does education shift into indoctrination, and does higher education in Texas require more regulation?

The House's version of SB 37, presented by Republican state Rep. Matt Shaheen of Plano, made significant changes to the Senate's proposal, notably keeping final authority on academic degrees and curriculum with universities. The Senate's version grants that authority to university boards of regents, which are political appointments. Shaheen said he met with university leaders three times before introducing his revisions, and many who testified before the committee thanked him for the changes. “A lot of the changes that they requested are in this bill,” Shaheen said about university leaders. The House version also restricted university system regents' hiring authority to presidents, vice presidents and deans. Texas A&M University System General Counsel Ray Bonilla testified that this revision would reduce the boards' legal liability for employment decisions. The House panel also cut the Senate-outlined process for ending degree programs with certain levels of associated debt, softening language to direct presidents to review programs and minors for low enrollment that "may require consolidation or elimination." Most processes now are "at the institutional level," Shaheen said in allaying fears about political appointees ? such as boards of regents that are appointed by the governor ? overruling decisions made by faculty experts. The bill, however, kept in place the regents' "ultimate authority" over nearly all decisions, including on whether to allow faculty senates to exist at an institution and to annually review leaders who oversee curriculum. Despite the House changes, professors, students and higher education advocates who testified against the bill argued that any version of SB 37 would crush institutions' ability to foster productive faculty governance and education.

Read this article at Austin American-Statesman - Subscribers Only

Upscale Austin suburb annoyed with Elon Musk's security, parties, 16-foot-high chain fence

Residents of an upscale Austin suburb are increasingly frustrated with their neighbor, Elon Musk, enough that the matter is now the subject of official city meetings. Their complaints on the unneighborly conduct include a 16-foot chain-link fence surrounding Musk’s $6 million property and an evolving rotation of security guards who arrive in a fleet of cars often left parked on the street, according to The New York Times. Security personnel reportedly change shifts three times a day. In one instance, a passing driver shouted late at night that he was looking for a party at “E’s house,” the Times reported.

The dispute has escalated into a broader debate over city ordinances, permits and exceptions known as variances. It was the subject of a heated Zoning and Planning Commission meeting last month and is now headed to the West Lake Hills City Council on June 11. The agenda item was originally scheduled for next week but was postponed Wednesday morning. "I call that place Fort Knox,” Paul Hemmer, a retired real estate agent who lives across the street and is president of the neighborhood homeowners association, told The Times. According to The Times, neighbors said the property is noticeably quieter when Elon Musk is out of town, particularly in recent months, as he’s spent most of his time in Washington advising President Donald Trump. However, they expect that to change soon, after Musk publicly stated he plans to spend less time in the Capitol and return to Texas.

Read this article at Austin American-Statesman - Subscribers Only

Texas bill would allow invasive sheep species to be hunted from helicopter in state

A strain of sheep brought to Texas by former World War II soldiers who had served near the Barbary Coast of North Africa and saw them as game for hunters has thrived so well in their adoptive home that they've crowded out native animals. In recent years, the animals called aoudad sheep have been known to carry a pneumonia-causing bacteria called "Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae" that can be spread to commercial sheep and goat herds. That prompted the Texas House on Tuesday to overwhelmingly approve legislation to allow the hunting of aoudad by helicopter. Although the matter is serious, the discussion on the floor was less so.

"This is not a ba-a-a-ad bill," deadpanned state Rep. Eddie Morales, an Eagle Pass Democrat whose rural district provides welcoming terrain for the transplants from North Africa. And he promised he wasn't "trying to pull the wool over (anyone's) eyes." "What's more liberty, freedom than being able to shoot aoudad sheep from helicopters?" he asked. No one spoke against the measure, just as no one had when the separate versions of the legislation were discussed in House and Senate committees. The House's version of Senate Bill 1245 was amended, meaning the upper chamber must either sign off on the changes or have the differences settled by a conference committee before the proposal is sent to the governor. If the bill becomes law, aoudad sheep would join feral hogs among game animals that can be hunted from the air in Texas. Lawmakers in 2011 enacted legislation dubbed the "porkchopper law" as a means to try to control the proliferating wild swine that were causing expensive damage to farm and ranch land. According to the hunting guide company Outdoors International, the aoudad population in Texas is estimated to have ballooned by 1,800% since 1963. Once the sheep took root in Texas, landowners found them difficult to keep fenced in, and they proved to be quite adept at reproduction. "The first recorded aoudad sheep in Texas were in Llano and Kerr counties, but their popularity quickly made them an in-demand species on exotic game ranches throughout central and southern parts of the state," Outdoors International says on its website.

Read this article at Austin American-Statesman - Subscribers Only

ICE deports Austin woman and her U.S. citizen children, immigrant advocates say

Austin immigration activists are raising concerns after they say two U.S. citizen minors were removed to Mexico Wednesday alongside their mother, an immigrant without legal status who had resided in the city for at least seven years. Denisse Parra Vargas, 37, was detained a day earlier along with her 9-, 5-, and 4-year-old children after reporting to a Department of Homeland Security facility in Pflugerville for a check-in, according to activist Sulma Franco with Austin-based Grassroots Leadership. Parra Vargas’ two youngest two children were born and raised in Austin. “They were good people,” said Franco, who has known the family for years. “They were people who were doing all that they could to provide for their families, responsibly, without trouble.”

Texas Civil Rights Project lawyer Daniel Hatoum said he had confirmed that Vargas and her children were in Reynosa as of Wednesday afternoon. Franco said she had heard they were at a shelter, hoping to reunite with the children’s father, who was deported to Nuevo Laredo in the days before Parra Vargas’ deportation. The couple is originally from Mexico. The deportation of Parra Vargas and her children appears to be the latest instance of the Trump administration removing U.S. citizen minors amid its ongoing immigrant crackdown. Last month in Louisiana, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed a four-year-old with Stage 4 cancer after stopping the child, its mother and others. In South Texas, immigration officials also removed four U.S. citizens, aged 6 to 15, along with their parents. One of the children had brain cancer while another had a heart disorder. “They basically tell the family: ‘Either take them with you or we’re going to separate them quickly from you,’” said Hatoum, whose organization is representing the South Texas family. “They then claim that's not really a deportation because they were given the option of going. But it certainly is in a colloquial sense.” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to a request for comment about this case.

Read this article at Austin American-Statesman - Subscribers Only

A Rutgers bioengineer tapped to be next UT Dallas leader

A new leader is coming to the University of Texas at Dallas — Prabhas Moghe, of Rutgers University. Moghe, whose background is in chemical and bioengineering, is currently the executive vice president for academic affairs and chief academic officer at Rutgers. The UT System board unanimously selected Moghe as the sole finalist for UTD’s next president during a Wednesday meeting. The regents must wait at least 21 days after naming a finalist before officially hiring a university president. Once officially hired, he will take over the university that’s emerged as a top research institution and one of the fastest-growing universities in the nation.

“Dr. Moghe’s record of strengthening educational pathways and propelling research agendas forward reflect many of UT Dallas’s strengths and continued aspirations,” UT System Chancellor James Milliken said in a statement. “He has a deep appreciation for UTD’s mission and extraordinary ascendancy among top universities.” At Rutgers, Moghe has managed the academic, research and faculty support programs across four campuses and 29 academic units since 2020. Rutgers rose up in national ranking and bolstered research funding to nearly $1 billion under Moghe’s tenure, according to a release from the UT System. “Prabhas has been dedicated to boosting our academic and research excellence, providing strong support for both undergraduate and graduate education, and strengthening our faculty recruitment,” said Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway in a statement. "We are thrilled that UT Dallas will benefit from his deep experience and commitment to a robust academic enterprise.” Moghe is poised to take over UTD as university leaders across Texas — and the nation — face a higher education landscape with increased scrutiny. Meanwhile, other longtime leaders in the system are leaving as well — including UT Austin’s outgoing president Jay Hartzell and Milliken.

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

UT Southwestern, Children’s Health get nine-figure donation for Dallas pediatric campus

Children’s Health and UT Southwestern Medical Center have secured a nine-figure financial donation, the organizations announced on Tuesday, as they work toward constructing a $5 billion pediatric campus in Dallas that will span nearly 5 million square feet. The new campus, which broke ground in October and is scheduled to open in 2031, will replace the existing Children’s Medical Center Dallas, a facility that was completed in 1967 and ranks among Texas’ largest pediatric hospitals. The institutions did not disclose the exact figure, but the most recent grant comes from the Moody Foundation and exceeds $100 million, the donation amount the project received on two previous occasions. The exact amount is being withheld “out of respect for the wishes of the parties involved,” a representative for the Moody Foundation told The Dallas Morning News in an email.

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

Deborah Beck: Without first-class public universities, Texas cannot be a first-class state

(Deborah Beck is the Christie and Stanley E. Adams, Jr. Centennial Professor in Liberal Arts and professor of classics at the University of Texas.) According to recent reports, Texas now boasts 16 top-tier universities, more than any other state. The majority are public institutions, including the University of Texas flagship here in Austin. Our state’s commitment to state-supported higher education goes all the way back to the Texas Constitution in 1876. Article 7 directs the Legislature to “provide for the maintenance, support and direction of a University of the first class” to be called “The University of Texas.” The very first responsibility of this university is “the promotion of literature.” Senate Bill 37, under consideration in the Texas Legislature, would change our public universities so radically that they would no longer be first-class. Without first-class public universities, Texas cannot be a first-class state.

While the state Constitution affirms the connection between studying literature and a thriving citizenry, the members of the 89th Legislature apparently feel differently. Under SB 37, hiring for faculty positions in liberal arts, communication, education and social work — but no other fields — become the responsibility of a state governing board whose members would not necessarily have either disciplinary expertise in the relevant academic subjects or training in college-level teaching and learning. Why does this matter to anyone besides a few professors? To put the question another way, what do we actually do in the liberal arts? “Liberal” arts does not mean “liberal” as distinct from “conservative.” In this context, “liberal” derives from the Latin word liber, “free.” Liberal arts are the subjects which befit free people to study, and which enable us to flourish as a free society. The core of the liberal arts is learning to ask good questions and to respond to those questions effectively. Students in liberal arts often explore enduring human issues that can never be resolved once and for all, but that we all wrestle with as members of a pluralistic society.

Read this article at Austin American-Statesman - Subscribers Only

National Stories

Migrants are skipping medical care, fearing ICE, doctors say

A man lay on a New York City sidewalk with a gun shot wound, clutching his side. Emily Borghard, a social worker who hands out supplies to the homeless through her nonprofit, found him and pulled out her phone, preparing to dial 911. But the man begged her not to make the call, she said. “No, no, no,” he said, telling her in Spanish that he would be deported. Ms. Borghard tried to explain that federal law required hospitals to treat him, regardless of his immigration status, but he was terrified. “He said, ‘If I go to the emergency department, that will put me on their radar,’” she recalled in an interview recounting the incident. Across the country, doctors, nurses and social workers are increasingly concerned that people with serious medical conditions, including injuries, chronic illnesses and high-risk pregnancies, are forgoing medical care out of fear of being apprehended by immigration officials.

Since the Trump administration announced plans for mass deportations and rescinded a Biden-era policy that protected spaces like hospitals, medical clinics and churches from immigration enforcement, doctors said they have seen sharp increases in patient anxiety and appointment no-show rates. If the trend continues, health care officials say, the list of consequences could be long: Infectious diseases circulating unnecessarily; worsening health care costs because of untreated chronic illnesses; and dangerous birth complications for women who wait too long to seek help, among others. In a survey conducted by KFF, a health policy research organization, 31 percent of immigrants said that worries about immigration status — their own or that of a family member — was negatively affecting their health. About 20 percent of all immigrants surveyed said they were struggling with their eating and sleeping; 31 percent reported worsened stress and anxiety.

Read this article at New York Times - Subscribers Only

Economists warn Trump's research cuts could have dire consequences for GDP

When Casey Dreier saw President Trump's proposed budget for NASA, he couldn't believe the numbers. "This is the worst NASA budget I've seen in my lifetime," says Dreier, the chief of space policy for the Planetary Society, a nonprofit that advocates for space exploration. The budget proposes deep cuts for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, which oversees everything from telescopes peering deep into space to robotic probes exploring planets like Mars. Many of these projects cost billions of dollars to build and launch, but the budget cuts are so deep "that it will require NASA to turn off active spacecraft that are producing good science for pennies on the dollar for what the U.S. taxpayer paid for them," Dreier says.

It's not just spacecraft — Trump's proposed budget for the federal government would switch off huge swaths of America's scientific enterprise. The National Science Foundation (NSF) would be slashed in half. The National Institutes of Health would lose $17 billion in funding. Other agencies like the Energy Department, the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration would all see deep cuts totaling billions of dollars. These proposals "would be catastrophic if they were implemented," says Sudip Parikh, the CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. If the Republican-controlled Congress follows Trump's budget outline, Parikh warns, it will slash science at every university and laboratory in the United States. "It hollows out science across the country, not just in the places that I know the administration sometimes likes to single out, but across the entire country," he says.

Read this article at NPR - Subscribers Only

No pope today: Black smoke emerges from Sistine Chapel

As expected, black smoke emerged from the chimney above the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, where cardinals cast their first votes on Wednesday (May 7), a sign to onlookers in St. Peter’s Square they have not reached a consensus on who should be the next pope. The smoke emerged around 9 p.m. Rome time. The doors of the Sistine Chapel were closed for voting at 5:46 p.m. In the past seven papal elections, it has not taken more than four days for the cardinals to reach the majority of votes necessary to elect a new pontiff. The 1939 conclave that elected Pius XII came to a decision on the second day on the third vote, while cardinals took four days to elect Pope John XXIII in 1958.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin entered the conclave as a front-runner, with reports indicating roughly 40 to 50 votes would be for him out of the 133 cardinal electors. A two-thirds majority is needed to choose the next pontiff, rounded up to 89 votes. If the case for a Parolin papacy is not made within the first two days of voting, it’s likely the cardinals will start seeking other contenders — and ideological divisions over the future of the church might emerge. Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, French Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline and Italian Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi are considered favorites among cardinals who wish to see the late Pope Francis’ legacy continue, especially his desire to open the church to those on the margins and include laypeople in its leadership. Among the conservatives, Hungarian Cardinal Péter Erdo and Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu from Congo are considered top contenders for their emphasis on church teaching and doctrine.

Read this article at Religion News Service - Subscribers Only

Trump taps MAHA influencer for surgeon general, replacing first pick

The White House pulled the nomination of Janette Nesheiwat to be the surgeon general in favor of Casey Means, a key figure in the “Make America Healthy Again” movement. The decision came a day before Nesheiwat, a physician and former Fox News medical commentator, was scheduled to appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday for a confirmation hearing. She faced intense conservative criticism for her past advocacy for coronavirus vaccines and scrutiny of her medical education claims. Casey Means, along with her brother, Calley Means, are key allies to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Both helped drive momentum behind Kennedy’s MAHA initiative to tackle chronic disease and childhood illness, which gained prominence during the fall campaign season. Calley Means serves as a White House senior adviser focusing on food and other MAHA-related health issues.

“Casey has impeccable ‘MAHA’ credentials, and will work closely with our wonderful Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to ensure a successful implementation of our Agenda in order to reverse the Chronic Disease Epidemic, and ensure Great Health, in the future, for ALL Americans,” President Donald Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Wednesday. “Her academic achievements, together with her life’s work, are absolutely outstanding.” Casey Means has said she earned a medical degree at Stanford University but dropped out of a residency program because she was frustrated the health-care system did not focus enough on the root causes of poor health. She went on to become a chronic-disease entrepreneur and health influencer with a large social media following. Along with her brother, she wrote a book titled “Good Energy: The Surprising Connection between Metabolism and Limitless Health,” which details how Americans can take control of their own health care to avoid chronic disease. Last year, she — at times along with her brother — appeared on a range of podcasts and shows, such as those hosted by Joe Rogan and Tucker Carlson. The latter appearance has racked up nearly 4 million views on YouTube since August.

Read this article at Washington Post - Subscribers Only

In the Deep South, health care fights echo civil rights battles

This year marks the milestone anniversaries of several civil rights victories: the 70th anniversary of the bus boycott, the 60th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery marches, the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. But 2025 also marks the 60th anniversary of Medicaid, the public health insurance program for people with low incomes. The creation of Medicaid isn’t typically considered a civil rights victory. But the idea of health care as a human right was very much a part of the Civil Rights Movement, as was the belief that universal coverage could help dismantle racial inequities in health care. “The connection between Medicare, Medicaid and the Civil Rights Movement was there from the beginning,” said Zachary Schulz, a history lecturer at Auburn University who specializes in public health history and policy. “Desegregation is often discussed in education, but there could be an argument made that it began in health care.”

Many of the Alabama communities that were home to the fiercest civil rights battles of the 20th century still grapple with systemic neglect that’s resulted in poor health outcomes, high uninsured rates and a shortage of medical providers. In the neighborhoods around the Alabama Capitol, where nearly 50,000 people gathered in March of 1965 to meet the Selma-to-Montgomery marchers and push for voting rights, nearly a quarter of residents don’t have health insurance, according to the latest U.S. census data, for 2023. Around the Bricklayers Hall, the median household income is about $23,615, less than half of what it is statewide. The neighborhood’s closest hospital filed for bankruptcy in February. Statewide, 12% of Black residents under age 65 are uninsured, compared with 8.2% of white people and 10.3% for all races, according to the census. Desegregation is often discussed in education, but there could be an argument made that it began in health care. Just as civil rights activists marched for voting rights and an end to segregation, the next generation of organizers is demanding something they see as no less essential: the right to accessible, affordable health care in a system that continues to deny it.

Read this article at Stateline - Subscribers Only

Trump’s order to sanitize Black history meets institutional resistance

Late last month, when two federal grants to the Whitney Plantation in Louisiana were rescinded, the Trump administration seemed to be following through on its promise to root out what President Trump called “improper ideology” in cultural institutions focused on Black history. After all, the plantation’s mission was to show visitors what life was truly like for the enslaved, contrary to the watered-down Black history that the president seemed to back. Then just as quickly, the grants were restored a few weeks later, the Whitney Plantation’s executive director said in an interview. Because the money had already been approved, “maybe it was an exposure for lawsuits,” the executive director, Ashley Rogers, said, “but who knows?” Ever since Mr. Trump issued an executive order in March denouncing cultural institutions that were trying to “rewrite our Nation’s history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth,” sites like the Whitney Plantation have lived with such uncertainty.

An order specifically targeting the Smithsonian Institution tasked Vice President JD Vance and other White House officials with “seeking to remove improper ideology from such properties.” But reversals like the one in Louisiana and actions by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture seem to indicate some misgivings about the president’s order. They also show that putting historical knowledge back into the bottle after decades of reckoning with the nation’s racist history will be more difficult than the administration believes. “The most concerning phrase that I’ve seen is ‘improper ideology,’ which sounds so Orwellian,” Ms. Rogers said. She added, “They’re couching everything as ideology, which is already odd, because what we’re talking about at Whitney Plantation is facts.” The distortions, she said, come from “plantation museums where they do not talk about slavery, where they try to peddle you this idea that enslaved people were happy.”

Read this article at New York Times - Subscribers Only

RFK Jr.’s new vaccine testing rule agitates industry, experts

When the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a new requirement for placebo testing on all new vaccines last week, the agency suggested the move would help protect consumers. But medical experts and vaccine makers say wide application of the rule would be an unnecessary drain on time and money, while raising ethical questions by depriving some patients of safe vaccines that could protect them from disease. Akiko Iwasaki, former president of the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) and director of the Yale School of Medicine Center for Infection and Immunity, told The Hill “it’s unethical to put people on a placebo arm when there is an existing vaccine for a trial like this.”

According to an HHS spokesperson, the rule announced last week means “all new vaccines will undergo safety testing in placebo-controlled trials prior to licensure — a radical departure from past practices.” “Except for the COVID vaccine, none of the vaccines on the CDC’s [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] childhood recommended schedule was tested against an inert placebo, meaning we know very little about the actual risk profiles of these products,” the spokesperson added. Experts have pushed back against this claim about vaccine testing, pointing to various double-blind studies for inoculations against MMR, polio and the flu, among others. The details of how the HHS plans to implement these added tests, including what exactly can be considered a “new vaccine” under this rule, remain unclear. Double-blind, placebo-controlled trials — considered the gold standard for evaluating safety and efficacy — are already conducted when new vaccines are being developed. Medical experts are worried it will also apply to seasonal updates on existing vaccines. Requests by The Hill for a definition of “new vaccines” as it concerns the new rule were not directly addressed by the HHS. Andrew Nixon, HHS director of communications, has said the flu shot is “unlike” COVID-19 vaccines as it has been “tried and tested for more than 80 years.” New vaccines undergo placebo-controlled trials as part of the development and approval process, meaning a “test group” receives the new vaccine and a “control group” is given saline or another inert solution, for the sake of scientific comparison.

Read this article at The Hill - Subscribers Only

Lead Stories

Houston ISD reports 18% drop in K-12 school choice applicants for 2025-26 year

Rebecca Arata and her family moved to Houston’s Energy Corridor district in 2018 solely so her children could attend Houston ISD’s Barbara Bush Elementary, citing its “A” rating from the Texas Education Agency and reputation as “a great public education success story.” While the school remains high performing, Arata said she's seen a “devastating” increase in teacher turnover at the west Houston campus and three different principals since the state takeover, as well as a rise in disruptive spot observations of teachers and “nonsensical” worksheets. “The changes to the curriculum and to the way the classroom is run are really palpable, and I feel like they're negatively affecting both of my children's education, despite the frankly heroic efforts of their teachers,” Arata said.

In late April, Arata submitted the paperwork to enroll her two daughters – a kindergartner and fourth grader – in Katy ISD for the 2025-26 school year. This summer, her family will be moving out of the state’s largest school district. Bush is “the reason we bought a house this far west of downtown and endured really long commutes to and from downtown for years,” Arata said. “Until the takeover, we were really happy, and we had no plans to move. We had no plans to leave our house. We had no plans to leave our community. Obviously, when the takeover happened, that all changed.” While HISD provides families the option to apply to up to 10 programs or campuses through its popular school choice lottery process, the district is seeing a steep decline in applicants. HISD reported that this year the number of students participating in the K-12 school choice process dropped more than 18%, marking the first reported decline since the incoming 2021-22 class. “We decided not to do school choice because I love being in a community school,” Arata said. “I love the way that the people you see at the school are the same people you see at swim team. ... I also wasn't confident that any other schools would be better or that any other schools would be out of reach of the same impact that we're seeing from the takeover.”

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

'A lot of fog': Texas businesses struggle to plan amid tariff chaos

Amid President Donald Trump’s chaotic trade war, this much is certain: Business is being put on hold. The question, business leaders say as they scrap profit forecasts for the rest of the year, is how deep a hole they’re sliding into. From San Antonio’s Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc. and Rush Enterprises Inc. to Tesla Inc. and Southwest Airlines, executives say there are just too many uncertainties to give investors much guidance. Though the next two or three months promise more of the same, most are hesitant to say what they anticipate beyond that.

“The runway is really short,” Rush Enterprises CEO Rusty Rush said during a recent call with investors. “There’s a lot of haze, a lot of fog … And that’s not just for me, that’s for our customers. I mean, we’re driven by what customers see, what they do, what affects them.” Right now, he said, customers aren’t buying new heavy trucks — the New Braunfels-based commercial vehicle dealer’s bread and butter. Companies aren’t growing or replacing their fleets, Rush said, just replacing vehicles as they break down. That’s happening less often as drivers are putting fewer miles on their rigs as business slows. As imports continue to drop, truckers also have less merchandise and other freight to pick up from ports to drop off at stores, distributors and manufacturers. The uncertainty is being seen this week on Wall Street, too. After breaking a nine-day winning streak Monday, its longest such run in more than 20 years, the S&P 500 fell another 0.8% Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.9% and the Nasdaq composite sank 0.9%.

Read this article at San Antonio Express-News - Subscribers Only

Tax bill imperiled by Trump’s loud Republican critic

Rep. Don Bacon has become known as a rare House Republican who regularly criticizes President Trump’s actions. Now his vote could be crucial to Trump’s tax plans. The Nebraska centrist is warning that House GOP leaders are putting battleground members like him in a particularly precarious political position—and imperiling the GOP majority in the next elections—if they opt to make deep cuts to Medicaid to help pay for the president’s “big, beautiful” bill that extends 2017 tax cuts and add new breaks. Bacon, 61 years old, is on board with enacting money-saving work requirements on able-bodied users and more frequent eligibility checks for the health-insurance program, which serves low-income and disabled people. But while the House Energy and Commerce committee is looking for nearly $900 billion in reductions over 10 years, largely from healthcare, Bacon says taking any more than $500 billion from Medicaid is too much. And he says some Republican leaders have privately tried to get him to drop his objections by saying any steep reductions passed by the House would be blocked by the Senate anyway.

“Here’s the tactic they’ve been using: ‘Don’t worry about the Senate. They’ll fix it.’ And now we’re getting ready to take our third vote on this,” Bacon said in a recent interview, referring to earlier steps in the budget process. “We feel like we’re being pushed up to the edge of the cliff here.” During Trump’s first 100-plus days, Bacon has spoken out against the administration over tariffs, how the U.S. has treated its allies, the president’s statements about Ukraine and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s handling of sensitive information on Signal, among other issues. He said he plans to vote against a Republican bill backing Trump’s renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. After the Liberal Party staged a come-from-behind win in the Canadian elections, he quipped: “The president has made liberals great again in Canada.” When a news headline mentions a Republican objecting to something Trump has done, odds are it’s Bacon—and some colleagues grumble he is too eager to engage with the press. Party leadership “has asked me to try to tone it down a little bit, and I want to be respectful,” he said. Asked if he is going to listen, Bacon replied with a laugh: “Well, I say I could do a lot more. I’ve been looking for opportunities not to have the opportunity.”

Read this article at Wall Street Journal - Subscribers Only

School choice movement shifts fight to federal level after long-sought Texas win

The school choice movement is at a crossroads, celebrating perhaps its latest victory in a red state but looking at a much more difficult path forward in its quest to make alternatives to public schools easily accessible across the country. The near universal school choice bill signed over the weekend by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signified the last major Republican-led state to create education savings accounts (ESAs), the north star for the movement, which has seen a string of wins in legislatures across the country since the pandemic. But the movement’s success in Texas is unlikely to be repeated in deep blue territory, meaning advocates are eyeing action on the federal level while pressing ahead in individual states.

“It’s clear that we’re going to have to continue this march state by state to educate people, to get them involved and to really focus on that, on a strategy that understands how to work school choice into a blue state,” said Robert Enlow, president and CEO of EdChoice. “I think the federal tax credit program that needs to be in the reconciliation bill right now will go a long way to making that a reality,” he added, referring to GOP budget plans to advance much of President Trump’s agenda. Abbott on Saturday signed the largest day-one school choice program in the country, costing $1 billion in just its first year. Rural lawmakers in Texas had for years dug in against school choice, saying it would not help children in districts where the alternative education options are few and far between. ESA programs have popped up around the country, with states giving a certain amount of money to families that choose to send their students outside of the public school system. In Texas, families who choose to send their kids to private schools will get 85 percent of the average local and state dollars that students who go to public schools receive. “School choice is now the law in the great state of Texas,” Abbott said. “Gone are the days that families are limited to only the school assigned by government. The day has arrived that empowers parents to choose the school that’s best for their child.”

Read this article at The Hill - Subscribers Only

State Stories

Daniel Griffith: Noncitizen voting is very rare. Don't make voting harder for millions of Texans

(Daniel Griffith is the senior director of policy for Secure Democracy USA, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization building stronger elections, state by state.) In the final stretch of the Texas legislative session, lawmakers are racing to advance several bills that would impose new voting requirements on Texas voters. On paper, these bills sound like they are about election security; but in practice, they’re simply red tape that threatens to block millions of law-abiding Texans from casting a ballot. Senate Bill 16, which has passed the Senate, and the companion HB 5337 working its way through the Texas House, would create a confusing two-tiered voter registration system for Texas voters. All eligible Texas voters — both new registrants and existing voters — would have to show a passport or birth certificate, or prove they’ve previously shown one of these documents to the state Department of Public Safety, to remain on the voting rolls. Even long-time registered voters would be forced to produce this new paperwork — or be barred from voting in state and local races for offices such as school board, mayor, city council, governor, and even for president. These documents can be expensive or hard to track down. For many Texans, especially rural and older voters, these records can be difficult to obtain. Research shows that only roughly half of voting-eligible Texans have a passport, and Texans in rural counties are even less likely to have one.

In addition, many Texans have changed their names since birth due to marriage or other reasons, so their current names may not match the one on their birth certificates. An estimated 5.6 million women living in Texas couldn’t use their birth certificates alone to prove their citizenship to vote because they changed their names when they got married. That’s, of course, if they can find their birth certificate — or if the rural hospital where they were born issued them (many hospitals did not routinely issue them until the 1930s or '40s). In other words, these bills would strip many eligible voters of their freedom to vote — not because they aren’t citizens, but because they can’t produce the right paperwork. Unfortunately, we at Secure Democracy USA have seen this movie before. These bills copy a failed approach in Arizona, where this complex voter registration system has led to confusion at the polls, administrative chaos and lawsuits. Keep in mind that Arizona has just 15 counties. Texas has 254. Imagine taking Arizona's chaotic experience and multiplying it by 17 across Texas — along with the cost to taxpayers to implement, enforce and defend these laws in court.

Read this article at Austin American-Statesman - Subscribers Only

Proposed bills aim to cut food, medicine costs by eliminating Texas inventory tax

A new push at the Texas Capitol could bring price relief to both consumers and retailers by eliminating a tax on certain items that grocers say is quietly driving up the cost of essential goods. Two bipartisan bills — Senate Bill 2907 and House Bill 4083 — are gaining momentum among lawmakers and industry groups. The Senate bill is authored by Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, and Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, while the House bill is authored by Rep. Angie Chen Button, R-Garland. The proposed legislation would exempt certain fresh foods and medications from the state's ad valorem inventory tax, a levy that businesses pay each year based on the value of unsold products on their shelves, in back rooms, and in warehouses. The Texans for Affordable Food and Medicine coalition, made up of retailers and trade associations, announced its full support for the measures last month.

The group says the tax exemption would reduce prices, help small grocers stay competitive, and improve access to fresh groceries and medications, particularly in rural and underserved communities. “Texas is one of the very few states that has an inventory tax,” said Gary Huddleston, a grocery industry consultant for the Texas Retailers Association. “At the end of the year, the state of Texas says... you have to count all your product... and pay an inventory tax on it. That tax varies, but it could be from 0.2% to 0.5%, which in our industry is significant.” Huddleston says that’s especially hard on businesses that sell perishable goods, like grocers and pharmacies. Unlike most states, Texas applies its inventory tax even to essential goods that are already exempt from sales tax, such as milk, eggs, fruits, vegetables, meat, and some medicines. “We’re not asking for it to totally go away, but we’re asking for some exemptions to help businesses,” he said.

Read this article at NBC 5 - Subscribers Only

$115K poured into two Prosper ISD trustee campaigns that failed. Who spent the money?

A political action committee accused of breaking election laws raised six figures for a Prosper Independent School District trustee election — but its secretive spending failed to unseat the two incumbents it aimed to replace. Incumbent trustees Garrett Linker and Kelly Cavender each won reelection Saturday with about 53% of the vote despite the thousands of dollars supporting challengers Janette Church and Scott Bray. The Accountable Leadership Committee raised more than $115,000 as of April 23 to support Bray and Church, according to the most recent campaign finance report available. It paid for digital ads, mailers, yard signs, door hangers and text message blasts backing the two challengers.

Both Bray and Church have said they were not involved in the PAC’s activities. Who is behind the effort is still unclear. Records show the PAC’s money came from three Washington, D.C.- and Virginia-based political entities all tied to conservative political spending across the country. “I’m so thankful that our community saw through it,” Linker said. “They spoke up and said we’re not going to let something like this influence us.” In advertisements opposing Church and Bray, another political action committee, Lone Star Project, tied the two challengers to the PAC’s spending, writing “Don’t let secret dark money take over our public schools.” “We were made to be the villains,” Church said. “I was made to look unethical, shady.” Bray declined to comment. Cavender did not respond to a phone call or text message requesting comment. The Texas Ethics Commission has agreed to review allegations that the Accountable Leadership Committee violated state campaign finance rules by naming a treasurer after it had already spent money on mailers, texts, calls and a website. Texas election law prohibits committees from accepting or spending more than $500 without having a campaign treasurer.

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

“A backdoor effort” to revive Texas’ century-old abortion law

In late March, women who had suffered severe pregnancy complications and were forced to leave Texas for care sat in the state Senate chamber and implored Texas lawmakers not to make such situations even worse. Some had previously sued the state over its abortion bans, after being denied needed medical care in Texas. Devastating fetal diagnoses—one woman learned that the fetus was developing without a skull and would not survive, another was told that severe complications with one developing twin threatened her life and the life of her other healthy twin—left some scrambling to get over the state line. But instead of expanding medical exceptions to the state’s abortion bans in order to protect people in these circumstances, the women said, measures being pushed by Texas Republicans threatened to further criminalize them and their loved ones. The senators had been hearing testimony on abortion legislation, including a bill that purported to clarify the narrow medical exceptions in Texas abortion bans, following reports of deadly delays in care due to the vague language and penalties of up to life in prison for doctors who violate them.

For weeks, that bill, Senate Bill 31, dominated advocacy efforts and headlines. This was in part because the bipartisan measure, deemed a priority bill by even the staunchest anti-abortion lawmakers, contained what some called a “Trojan Horse” provision: By including an early 20th-century, pre-Roe abortion law among the several abortion bans that SB 31 amended, critics said the bill could help resurrect the century-old abortion ban that would allow for criminalizing pregnant people seeking abortions, along with anyone who helps them get the procedure, even if it’s out of state. Eventually, the bill’s authors agreed to add language clarifying that the legislation was neutral on this issue, and it passed the Texas Senate last week. Yet Texas Republicans have at the same time been pushing forward another sweeping anti-abortion bill, Senate Bill 2880, which also includes language that could be used to enforce the same pre-Roe ban, often called the 1925 law. “This is a backdoor effort to fully reinstate the 1925 law,” Houston-area Democratic Senator Carol Alvarado said last week, just before SB 2880 also passed the full Senate. “It is a vote to criminalize women, trap them within the borders of Texas, and to threaten anyone who tries to help them, regardless of whether the abortion occurs legally in another state.” This includes situations where the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, or where the fetus has an anomaly that means it will not survive—none of which are an exception under Texas law.

Read this article at Bolts - Subscribers Only

Dallas ISD superintendent praises effort to eliminate STAAR

Dallas Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde told a theater full of educators on Tuesday that Texas could be “standing on the precipice” of eliminating the STAAR test. During her annual State of the District address, Elizalde lauded a legislative proposal to scrap the state’s much-derided standardized test and replace it with a series of shorter exams that would be given to students throughout the year. Doing so, Elizalde said, would give teachers “actionable data so that we can turbocharge academic growth for each and every one of our students.” “I don’t know if it’ll happen this session,” the superintendent acknowledged. “But we’ve never been closer, and I won’t stop advocating for you.” The hundreds of educators and community members who joined her in the Winspear Opera House theater cheered.

In its current form, House Bill 4 would replace the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness with three tests spaced out between the start and end of the school year. Lawmakers in support of the measure say it would relieve pressure on students and empower teachers to better tailor their strategies to improve kids’ learning. Parents, teachers and students have told the legislature for years how much they hate STAAR. House Bill 4 is far from the finish line, with less than a month left in the legislative session. Elizalde’s comments came as a group of civic and business leaders sent a letter to state officials expressing concern with some of the elements of proposed accountability reform. This isn’t the first time Elizalde has used her State of the District speech to speak out against the way Texas approaches standardized testing. In her 2023 address, she declared that teaching to the test was “officially dead” in Dallas ISD.

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

Ted Cruz seeks answers for fans frustrated by complicated patchwork of sports media deals

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, suggested Tuesday that Congress could help American sports fans weary of trying to catch their favorite teams on an increasingly complex array of apps, broadcast platforms and streaming services. Fans get understandably upset navigating today’s fractured landscape of sports broadcast deals, Cruz said. “It shouldn’t be insanely complicated or insanely expensive to cheer on your hometown team,” said Cruz, chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, which has jurisdiction over sports and telecommunications. Cruz held a hearing Tuesday titled “Field of Streams: The New Channel Guide for Sports Fans” in what he described as a fact-finding mission to improve the sports viewing experience.

At the intersection of big league sports and federal authorities is the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, which gave leagues antitrust immunity to negotiate nationwide broadcast rights. Executives from Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League appeared Tuesday before the committee, while the National Football League declined an invitation to testify. Cruz said observers once wondered if NFL fans would abandon the league as it moved some games from free TV to cable, but the move instead helped boost the league’s popularity. The ongoing shift to streaming services could prove a similar boon and offer new benefits to fans, Cruz said, but the move presents challenges as well. “If fans want to spend their hard-earned money on sports streaming, I don’t blame them,” Cruz said. “I’ve shelled out a hell of a lot of money to see the Houston Rockets and the Astros and the Texans, and I intend to continue doing so.”

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

DART, TRE faces cuts with Texas House bill

Legislation that jeopardizes a rail linking Dallas and Fort Worth, according to opponents, could soon be heard by the full Texas House. House Bill 3187 advanced from the House Transportation committee on a 9-2 vote on May 6, the latest movement on the proposal by Rep. Matt Shaheen, a Plano Republican, as the Texas legislative session enters its final stretch. The legislation is opposed by Dallas Area Rapid Transit and Trinity Metro, who together own and operate the Trinity Railway Express line. Both warn that the legislation puts the operation of the line at risk. The rail between Dallas and Fort Worth is used by thousands each year, including by concert-goers and sports fans attending events at the American Airlines Center — home of the Dallas Mavericks and the Dallas Stars.

If HB 3187 passes, a city could take up to 25% of its sales and use tax that funds DART and use it for a general mobility program to fund things like sidewalk construction and maintenance, hiking and biking trails, drainage improvements, and street lights and traffic control improvements. “House Bill 3187 Kills Dart,” DART spokesperson Jeamy Molina said Tuesday. “There’s no illusions behind this. It will destroy DART.” As for the Trinity Railway Express: “We would have to look at services across the entire service area, but that’s place where we would work closely with Trinity Metro to decide how deep the cuts are in that area,” Molina said. “Those could be as far as not being able to run the service, very, very limited service — all things we would have to work out once we knew the exact impacts,” Molina said. DART warns that if the legislation passes as first filed it would lead to thousands of DART-related jobs lost, reduces DART’s economic impact by nearly $1 billion and a 30% service reduction across DART’s service area.

Read this article at Fort Worth Star-Telegram - Subscribers Only

FAA clears environmental hurdle for more Texas Starship launches

Federal regulators have determined that SpaceX can increase its Starship rocket launches to 25 times a year without causing significant environmental impacts in South Texas. The Federal Aviation Administration cleared a major hurdle for the company on Tuesday by releasing its final environmental assessment, one of four areas that must be reviewed before SpaceX can increase its Starship launch cadence beyond the currently approved five a year. “The completion of the environmental review process does not guarantee that the FAA will issue a license modification to SpaceX for the proposed action,” the FAA said in an executive summary of its assessment. “SpaceX’s license application must also meet FAA safety, risk and financial responsibility requirements.”

SpaceX is developing the Super Heavy rocket and Starship spacecraft to be used in trips to the moon and Mars. It’s building, launching and landing these rockets outside of Brownsville in an area that will soon become the city of Starbase. The South Texas residents who live closest to SpaceX, largely transplants connected to SpaceX, voted to incorporate the city on Saturday. Some native South Texans and environmental groups have been less pleased with the company’s presence.Starship prototypes have exploded, and the first launch of the combined Super Heavy rocket and Starship spacecraft caused a volcano-like eruption beneath the launch pad, propelling sand upward and causing it to come raining down 6 miles away on Port Isabel. Environmental groups worry about water pollution, and they’re concerned for the federally threatened piping plover shorebirds that forage the area for food. The FAA said it considered environmental impacts across a variety of categories – including air quality, noise, water resources, biological resources and hazardous materials – before issuing its findings.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

‘Critical race theory’ lawsuit against Coppell ISD resolved, Texas AG Ken Paxton says

After suing Coppell ISD alleging educators were breaking state law by teaching critical race theory, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Wednesday he “resolved” the case with the district. The lawsuit, filed in March, based its claims on a hidden-camera recording originally published in 2023 by a group called Accuracy in Media. Video appeared to show a Coppell ISD administrator discussing ways to get around the state’s anti-CRT laws. District officials insisted in a court filing that the footage was “heavily edited and manipulated so to be grossly misleading.” Critical race theory is an academic framework that probes the way policies and laws uphold systemic racism — such as in education, housing or criminal justice. In recent years, many conservatives conflated it with work aimed at making schools more equitable for students.

In 2021, Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law aiming to eliminate critical race theory from public schools, though it did not use those three words. In Wednesday’s announcement, Paxton said the lawsuit was resolved after district officials “voluntarily took measures to ensure that unlawful critical race theory (“CRT”) will not be taught in its classrooms.” Those measures included disavowing the theory and circulating to staff Texas laws surrounding the teaching of race and the importance of being fully compliant with state law, according to the news release. Coppell ISD spokesperson Amanda Simpson said district officials are waiting to issue a statement until after the judge officially drops the suit.

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

Proposed Tarrant County maps spark backlash from Dems

Tarrant County commissioners will consider five maps for redistricting, all of which would benefit Republicans based on recent voting trends. The maps were drawn by Adam Kincaid, executive director and president of National Republican Redistricting Trust, an organization that coordinates “the GOP’s 50-state redistricting effort.” He was hired by the Public Interest Legal Foundation, the Arlington, Virginia-based firm the county tapped April 2 to redraw its commissioner precinct maps. Precinct 2 commissioner Alisa Simmons, a Democrat from Arlington, condemned the law firm representative, Joe Nixon, and the contracted map drawer, Adam Kincaid, for “intentional racial discrimination,” citing the law firm’s work defending Galveston County when it was accused in 2021 of unconstitutional racial gerrymandering.

Simmons would be at risk of losing her seat in the redistricting — all of the maps break Arlington into three precincts. “Let’s be clear: this is a calculated attempt to strip representation from the very communities that I was elected to represent,” Simmons said in a statement. The county will host four public feedback sessions from May 13 to May 21 in Azle, southwest Fort Worth, Arlington and Hurst. Simmons said the court needs to hear from Kincaid and that he should attend the public feedback sessions. O’Hare would not answer her question about if it would be possible to bring Kincaid in. Broderick Miles, a Democrat from Fort Worth, said there should be more feedback sessions, including ones in Spanish and Vietnamese. “We need to make it as accessible and open and transparent to every resident in Tarrant County as we possibly can, and if that means extending the timeline so be it,” Miles said. “We are not elected to represent just the people that we agree with. We were elected to hear from the people. The people should have an opportunity to let their voices be heard.”

Read this article at Fort Worth Star-Telegram - Subscribers Only

Missing Tarrant County jail death video requested by Texas commission

The Texas Commission on Jail Standards has asked the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office to turn over missing security camera footage in the case of a woman who died in the county jail last year. Chasity Bonner died in the Tarrant County jail in May 2024. A Star-Telegram investigation from April found that video footage the Sheriff’s Office sent to the jail commission was missing the three minutes immediately preceding the medical emergency that resulted in her death. The commission has “requested Tarrant County to review and determine if those three minutes have been preserved and if so, to submit them to the Commission,” said executive director Brandon Wood in an emailed statement. The commission also asked the Sheriff’s Office “to identify what processes in place resulted in the three minutes not being included in the initial submission,” he said.

The Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Wood did not respond to a follow-up email asking how the jail commission did not notice the missing footage during its review of the case. The Star-Telegram received the footage from the jail commission after first being told the Sheriff’s Office had not sent it. The Fort Worth Police Department, which reviewed the Sheriff’s Office’s case file, also initially stated it had not received the video, but reversed course soon after the Star-Telegram reported that information. A police spokesperson changed the department’s statement to say that the video was sent, but the reviewing officer did not view it.

Read this article at Fort Worth Star-Telegram - Subscribers Only

Houston Mayor John Whitmire unveils $7 billion budget with no tax increase, fees or budget deficit

Houston Mayor John Whitmire on Tuesday kept his promise to balance the city’s finances, unveiling a $7 billion budget with no tax increase or new fees for city residents. The city was facing a budget deficit of more than $330 million during Whitmire’s time in office. Whitmire credited department consolidations for eliminating part of the deficit. The city also saved money in a legal agreement that requires the city to invest millions more in streets and drainage — but not all at once. The budget proposal does not factor in potential state money as lawmakers convene in Austin for their legislative session. One contentious bill would give Houston millions more from the Harris County Toll Road Authority.

While the city used METRO dollars to help offset costs incurred as a result of a drainage lawsuit that led to the legal agreement, the city is not using any more METRO dollars to bolster the budget, nor did it get any additional revenue from Harris County, Whitmire’s staff said. “This day is one of the reasons I ran for mayor,” Whitmire said. Whitmire’s 2026 budget is $7 billion, which is 2.3% more than last year’s budget. While the city plans to operate with more money this coming fiscal year, around $74.5 million was cut from the city’s nearly $3 billion general fund, which is bolstered by property and sales taxes. The general fund cuts came from consolidations and Whitmire’s voluntary retirement plan, which was open to all retirement-eligible employees except for police and fire. Whitmire’s team estimated the city would save around $30 million from retirements alone.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department adds 671 acres of land near Big Bend National Park

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is taking management control of a 600-plus-acre ranch near Big Bend and adding it to a local Wildlife Management Area. The Nature Conservancy in Texas has purchased Heath Canyon Ranch, which is composed of about 671 acres in Brewster County along the Rio Grande, for nearly $1.2 million. It will be incorporated into the Black Gap Wildlife Management Area.

"We are thrilled that the property is now in the hands of TPWD, and that this beautiful location along the river will continue to be available for the enjoyment of Texans and visitors alike while ensuring the protection of the habitat for wildlife to thrive," said Suzanne Scott, The Nature Conservancy in Texas state director, in a statement. The ranch is located between Big Bend National Park and Black Gap Wildlife Management Area. According to a news release, the ranch previously occupied a unique place in the local geography as it was a privately owned area surrounded by public lands.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

National Stories

58 crypto wallets have made millions on Trump’s meme coin. 764,000 have lost money, data shows

About 764,000 wallets that purchased President Donald Trump’s $TRUMP meme coin have lost money on the investment, according to fresh data shared with CNBC by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. Most of the wallets that lost money held smaller amounts of the token, according to the firm’s on-chain analysis. Crypto wallets are accounts that store the keys you need to access and use your cryptocurrency holdings. Chainalysis said that while around 2 million wallets have bought into the token, 58 wallets made more than $10 million apiece, totaling roughly $1.1 billion in gains. The $TRUMP token, which surged in popularity after being tied to the start of Trump’s second term, has seen sharp price swings and highly uneven returns for investors. Fight Fight Fight LLC. and CIC Digital LLC., control the bulk of the token’s supply.

CNBC has reached out to Fight Fight Fight LLC. for comment on the Chainalysis numbers. Interest in the coin spiked more than 50% after the project’s website promised the top 220 holders a seat at a black-tie-optional dinner with the president. The $TRUMP event, set for May 22 at the president’s Trump National Golf Club, Washington, D.C., includes a reception for the 25 wallets with the largest coin balance, along with a White House tour. The dinner-pegged rally pushed the token’s market cap to $2.7 billion at its peak, though it has since pulled back to around $2.17 billion. Since that rally, around 54,000 wallets have bought the coin. In total, 100,000 new wallets have purchased $TRUMP since April 15, Chainalysis said, extending the post-announcement surge despite ongoing volatility in the broader crypto market. The Trump-branded meme token has drawn scrutiny from regulators and ethics watchdogs.

Read this article at CNBC - Subscribers Only

Conclave to elect new Pope is set to begin

Roman Catholic cardinals were set to cast a first round of ballots for a new pope on Wednesday in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel, gathering under the soaring frescoes of Renaissance masters and a blanket of intense seclusion as they elect the next leader of 1.4 billion faithful. The largest number of voting cardinals in history, 133, are embarking on the first papal conclave in more than a decade, just over two weeks after the death of Pope Francis set in motion the process of choosing his successor. It comes at an uncertain time for the church, which is facing difficult decisions about its future direction, strained finances and a reckoning over past sex abuse scandals. The cardinals attended Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday morning. In the afternoon, starting at about 4:30 p.m. local time (10:30 a.m. Eastern), they will walk to the Sistine Chapel and take an oath to follow the conclave’s rules, which include maintaining total secrecy.

Though the papal election is one of the world’s oldest dramas, this one is unlike any before it, with many cardinals appointed by Francis meeting one another for the first time. The new faces bring unfamiliar politics, priorities and concerns that some experts say could make the conclave more fragmented than usual. Francis also left the church deeply divided, with progressive factions pushing for more inclusion and change and conservatives seeking to roll things back, often under the guise of preserving unity. How it works: If, as expected, the cardinals don’t reach a decision by secret ballot on Wednesday, they will spend the night at Vatican guesthouses and return to the Sistine Chapel on Thursday. They will participate in four rounds of voting every day until a two-thirds majority agree on a candidate. There is no indication of how long it will take, though the last two conclaves reached decisions within two days. Possible successors: Predicting the outcome of a papal election is always challenging, but oddsmakers say that two top contenders are Cardinal Pietro Parolin of Italy, who was Francis’ second-in-command, and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines, a country where the church is growing rapidly. Referendum on Francis: The election in many ways will turn on whether the cardinals want a pope who will follow Francis’ path of openness and inclusion or forge a new one. During his 12-year pontificate, Francis made global headlines for landmark declarations that encouraged liberals, including allowing the blessing of people in same-sex unions and raising his voice for migrants.

Read this article at New York Times - Subscribers Only

India and Pakistan are on the brink of wider conflict. Here’s what we know

India launched military strikes on Pakistan on Wednesday and Pakistan claimed it shot down five Indian Air Force jets, in an escalation that has pushed the two nations to the brink of a wider conflict. The escalation puts India and Pakistan, two neighbors with a long history of conflict, in dangerous territory, with Islamabad vowing to retaliate against India’s strikes and the international community calling for restraint. New Delhi said the strikes are in response to the massacre of 26 people – mostly Indian tourists – who died in April when gunmen stormed a scenic mountain spot in the India-administered part of Kashmir, a disputed border region. India has blamed Pakistan for the attack, which Islamabad denies. Here’s what we know so far.

India launched “Operation Sindoor” in the early hours of Wednesday morning local time (Tuesday night ET) in both Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Indian officials said nine sites were targeted, but claimed no Pakistani civilian, economic or military sites were struck. They said the 25-minute operation targeted “terrorist infrastructure” belonging to two militant groups – Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. The name ‘Sindoor’ appears to be a reference to the red vermilion, or powder, many Hindu women wear on their foreheads after marriage. The April tourist massacre – which singled out men as victims – left several Indian women widowed. But Pakistan is painting a different picture of the strikes – saying civilians were killed and mosques were hit. CNN has yet to verify those claims. A Pakistani military spokesperson said six locations were hit with 24 strikes. Some of those strikes hit the densely populated province of Punjab, Pakistan’s military said, and were the deepest India has struck inside Pakistan since 1971, when the two countries fought one of their four wars.

Read this article at CNN - Subscribers Only

Why a Trump ‘baby bonus’ is unlikely to boost fertility rate

The White House is reportedly considering a proposal to give new mothers a $5,000 “baby bonus” to help encourage Americans to have more children, but economists and social science experts are skeptical that the potential move would work. The New York Times reported last month that the White House was consulting with policy experts and pronatalist advocates about ways to incentivize American women to have more children. Cash bonuses and Fulbright scholarship allotments are among the ideas under consideration. Experts told The Hill this week that a few thousand dollars is too low to influence family planning, particularly when the costs of raising a child are far higher.

“That amount of money would not be considered meaningful enough by most couples to incentivize them to have kids,” said Jennifer Sciubba, president and CEO of Population Reference Bureau. Vice President Vance and Elon Musk, the influential billionaire adviser to Trump, are both loud voices in the pronatalist movement. Vance told an anti-abortion rally in January that he wanted “more babies in the United States of America.” Trump, both during his campaign and in the White House, has called himself the fertilization president. However, he is yet to take any major actions to boost fertility. The United States’s birth rate has been in decline for decades, falling even more sharply since the Great Recession, reaching a record low in 2023. Roughly 3.5 million babies were born that year in the U.S., marking a 2 percent drop from the year before, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Read this article at The Hill - Subscribers Only

At Trump’s urging, USPS board to name FedEx official as postmaster general

President Donald Trump and the U.S. Postal Service’s governing board are expected to name FedEx board member and former Waste Management CEO David Steiner as the nation’s next postmaster general, according to two people familiar with the decision, helping solidify the White House’s control over the historically independent mail service. Steiner replaces Louis DeJoy, whom Trump forced out of the role in March amid the mail chief’s clashes with billionaire Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service and congressional dissatisfaction with the agency’s performance and finances, The Washington Post has reported. The people familiar with the decision spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations and meetings. Steiner emerged in recent days as a leading candidate for the role at FedEx’s recommendation, according to three people familiar with the search process, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of professional reprisal.

The firm had long competed and collaborated with the Postal Service on shipping products, sending the mail agency some parcels it deemed too expensive to deliver on its own while attempting to best the agency’s postage prices. But that contract expired in 2024, leading FedEx to take most of its consumer shipping volume in-house. The Postal Service, with a staff of roughly 650,000, responded to Trump’s election and the agency’s weakening relationships with FedEx and UPS by looking to outsource additional work. It announced plans to eliminate 10,000 positions through attrition this year while off-loading certain mail-handling and transportation duties to the private sector. “The apparent choice of a postmaster general that comes directly from service on the board of directors of FedEx, one of the Postal Service’s primary competitors, presents a clear conflict of interest,” Brian Renfroe, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, said in a statement. “This is an unmistakable push to hand business over to private shippers. Letter carriers and the over 300 million people we serve every day recognize this attempt at a hostile takeover of a beloved American institution for what it is, privatization-by-proxy.” Spokespeople for the White House and FedEx declined to comment. Steiner and a Postal Service representative did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Since before Trump took office again, he had talked about overhauling the Postal Service and its leadership. He routinely disparages the agency and continues to criticize its role in facilitating mail-in voting.

Read this article at Washington Post - Subscribers Only

GOP senators fear Marjorie Taylor Greene could cost them Georgia Senate race

Republican senators are waving off firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) from jumping into next year’s Georgia Senate race, voicing concerns that some of the “crazy” things she’s said in the past might come back to hurt her in a general election race against vulnerable Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff (Ga.). Greene says she is looking seriously at either running for governor or for Senate in 2026 and expressed confidence that she could win a primary contest. GOP senators acknowledge she would have a good shot at winning the nomination given her national prominence and solid standing with many Trump-voters. Those chances got a boost this week when Gov. Brian Kemp, who was Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s (R-S.D.) top recruit for the race, said he won’t challenge Ossoff.

Republican senators fear that Greene, who has a knack for making headlines with controversial comments and generating enthusiasm from MAGA voters, could march to the nomination but lose in the general election — like former NFL star Herschel Walker did in the 2022 Georgia Senate race. “We need to have the absolute best candidate and that includes electability. It’s very difficult to apply a formula for a very gerrymandered, very conservative congressional district into a statewide election with as much diversity as Georgia has,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said when asked whether Greene would be a strong general-election candidate. “That is a swing state that’s pretty independent minded,” he added. “If I was to put my political science hat on and look at all the criteria, she wouldn’t be high on my list of recruits.”

Read this article at The Hill - Subscribers Only

FDA names oncologist Dr. Vinay Prasad, a Covid vaccine critic, as the new vaccine chief

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday named Dr. Vinay Prasad — a hematologist-oncologist who has been accused of spreading misinformation about Covid vaccines and was an outspoken critic of the agency’s decision to approve Covid shots in children — as its new vaccine chief. The FDA commissioner, Dr. Marty Makary, announced Prasad would lead the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research to agency employees earlier Tuesday and later on X. Makary called the appointment “a significant step forward,” saying Prasad would bring “scientific rigor, independence, and transparency.”

Prasad comes from the University of California, San Francisco, where he most recently was a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics. He is a practicing physician, according to his website. He spent much of the pandemic criticizing the FDA’s and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s response to the virus. In a 2021 blog post and an accompanying video, Prasad suggested the national response to Covid might bring on the collapse of democracy, invoking the rise of Hitler and the Third Reich in Germany. On the blog that year, Prasad downplayed the anti-vaccine activism of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — now the secretary of health and human services — specifically his role in a 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa.

Read this article at NBC News - Subscribers Only

Lead Stories

Texas lawmakers reach a deal that will give property tax breaks to homeowners

State lawmakers have reached a deal on how to allocate more than $3 billion in new property tax relief, with the bulk of the cuts set to benefit homeowners. The agreement, revealed in Senate and House committee hearings Monday, would increase the homestead exemption to $140,000 for most homeowners and to $200,000 for seniors and those with disabilities. The proposal would also increase the exemption for property owned by businesses from $2,500 to $125,000, effectively reducing the taxes they pay on inventory and office expenses. State Rep. Morgan Meyer, a Dallas Republican who chairs the House Ways & Means committee, thanked Republican leadership for “working together to provide meaningful property tax relief.”

Both proposals still need final sign-off by the Texas House and Senate. Gov. Greg Abbott, who has made property tax relief a priority this year, has yet to weigh in. The deal largely mirrors legislation favored by the state Senate, which voted unanimously in February to raise the homestead exemption from the current $100,000. The exemption lowers the taxable value of a home and only applies to someone’s primary residence. The increased exemption would save homeowners an average of $363 annually, said state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican and the bill’s author, when he proposed the bill in February. The House had originally proposed spending the bulk of the money to reduce school property tax rates across the board, a mechanism known as compression. Business interests have supported the approach because it spreads tax relief to commercial properties as well as primary residences. The House plan appears all but dead, as Meyer said his committee would vote out the Senate tax proposal “as is.”

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

What's in Trump's big bill? Money for migrant clampdown but tax breaks and program cuts hit 'bumps'

Congress is deep into drafting President Donald Trump’s big bill of tax breaks, spending cuts and beefed-up funding to halt migrants, but it’s “bumpy,” one Republican chairman says, with much work ahead to meet House Speaker Mike Johnson’s goal of passing the package out of his chamber by Memorial Day. In fact, the tax cuts portion is still a work in progress. As are the reductions in Medicaid, food stamps and other mainstay government programs. Mostly, the Republicans, who have the majority in Congress, have made progress on parts that would increase spending, adding some $350 billion to the Pentagon and Homeland Security, including money for the U.S-Mexico border wall. “There are some bumps in the road,” Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri, the Republican chairman of the powerful Ways and Means tax-writing committee, acknowledged on “Fox News Sunday.”

All told, some 11 committees in the House are compiling their bills, and about half have finished up. They are being approved at the committee level by Republicans, on party-line votes, with Democrats opposed. But some of the most-watched committees — Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce and Agriculture — have yet to act. Johnson himself acknowledged on Monday that his Memorial Day deadline may slip, but vowed “our timetable is on pace.” Two of the committees handling immigration- and border security-related matters have wrapped up their legislation. Central to the Homeland Security Committee’s bill is $46.5 billion to revive construction of Trump’s wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, with some 700 miles of “primary” wall, 900 miles of river barriers and more. It would provide $4 billion to hire an additional 3,000 new Border Patrol agents as well as 5,000 new customs officers, and $2.1 billion for signing and retention bonuses. All told, the Homeland Security Committee approved $69 billion in new spending. At the same time, the Judiciary Committee, which handles interior immigration enforcement and legal proceedings, has also completed its $110 billion bill.

Read this article at Associated Press - Subscribers Only

Fed confronts lose-lose scenario amid haphazard tariff rollout

The haphazard rollout of President Trump’s tariff policy threatens to put the Federal Reserve in a lose-lose scenario: Navigate a recession or manage a period of stagflation. How the Fed negotiates tricky communications around these trade-offs will be front and center at officials’ two-day policy meeting this week. Fed Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues are on track to extend their wait-and-see stance on cutting interest rates and strategize how to refine it. This calculated patience reflects officials’ determination to avoid prematurely abandoning their inflation fight. The problem for the Fed amounts to a goalkeeper’s dilemma: Dive right to address inflation by keeping rates where they are, or dive left to counter weaker growth by cutting rates. “We’ll make what will no doubt be a very difficult judgment,” Powell said last month.

Acting early to cushion the economy against a slowdown risks adding to short-term inflation pressures from tariffs or shortages. “This is not going to be a cycle where the Fed pre-emptively cuts because there’s a forecast of a slowdown. They’re going to actually need to see it in the tangible data, in particular the labor market,” said Richard Clarida, who served as Powell’s second-in-command for three years and is now a senior adviser at bond giant Pimco. Waiting for that economic weakness to show up means tolerating risks of a deeper recession. “Over seven years, the Powell Fed has a track record of waiting to be very sure about the data and then going very fast. I would imagine if you see a notable deterioration in the labor market, at that juncture the Fed will be prepared to move,” said Lael Brainard, who served as Fed governor from 2014 until 2023, including as vice chair during her last year. Sometimes, the Fed sets interest rates with a focus on maximizing good outcomes. Officials did this last year when they cut rates because inflation was declining.

Read this article at Wall Street Journal - Subscribers Only

Texas warns Fort Worth ISD of possible state takeover

Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath notified officials in the Fort Worth Independent School District that the district is at risk of a state takeover after a single campus received five consecutive failure ratings. Forest Oak 6th Grade Center received an F rating in the state’s 2023 A-F accountability scores, which were released last month after being tied up in court for two years. It was the campus’ fifth consecutive failure rating. That threshold triggers a provision in state law that requires the state education commissioner either to shut the campus down or remove the district’s school board and replace it with a state-appointed board of managers. But Fort Worth ISD closed Forest Oak 6th last year after years of declining enrollment and combined it with Forest Oak Middle School. In a letter dated Monday, Morath formally notified Fort Worth ISD Superintendent Karen Molinar and school board President Roxanne Martinez of the possibility of a state takeover.

The fact that the district has already closed Forest Oak 6th Grade Center “has no bearing on, and does not abrogate, the compulsory action the statute requires the commissioner to take,” Morath wrote. All A-F scores are considered preliminary until they’re finalized in August, and districts have a right to appeal. Morath said any decision about the district’s future would come after that point. Assuming the campus’ rating remains unchanged after an appeal, it remains unclear whether state law leaves the commissioner with any alternative other than placing the district under a board of managers. A TEA spokesman declined to comment on that question Monday afternoon. The law also would allow Morath to replace the district’s superintendent. Morath pointed out that Forest Oak 6th wasn’t the only campus in Fort Worth ISD that struggled in the 2023 ratings. The district had a D rating overall, and 77 campuses had a D or F rating. Morath called on district leaders to take aggressive action to improve student achievement.

Read this article at Fort Worth Star-Telegram - Subscribers Only

State Stories

Judge: Lottery commission cannot take action against courier company that brought lawsuit

The lottery courier that sued the Texas Lottery Commission to block enforcement of a new rule that would've put the company out of business will likely prevail in its case, a judge said in a ruling late last week. LTC Texas, which operates New Jersey-based third-party vendor Lotto.com, sued the commission last month after it adopted a rule that would revoke the license of any lottery retailer that does business with couriers. In her first ruling in the case, State District Judge Sherine Thomas on Friday issued a temporary restraining order that prevents enforcement of the rule against LTC specifically and set a hearing on the matter for May 27. In her ruling, Thomas said the lottery commission may not "seize or repossess terminals" belonging to LTC Texas or take any other enforcement action. And although she said in the ruling that LTC had demonstrated it is likely to win its case, that ruling should not be viewed as a final judgment.

The lottery's acceptance of couriers has drawn the ire of several high-ranking lawmakers in recent years, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who have complained that the companies provide a work-around to the 1991 lottery statute that forbids using a telephone to buy or sell game tickets. A bill that would outlaw courier companies has passed the Senate and is awaiting action in the House. On Monday, the Senate State Affairs Committee heard testimony on another bill that would abolish the lottery altogether. No vote was taken, but the author of Senate Bill 1988 said that the commission's allowance of couriers to operate for several years before its recent course reversal demonstrates that the state-run gambling operation has lost touch with its mission. "It will be crystal clear to everyone listening that the Lottery Commission has failed to uphold any of the principles of honesty and integrity," said Sen. Bob Hall, a Republican from Edgewood. "It is a well known fact that gambling, and the lottery is gambling, always attracts a culture of corruption." Hall first sounded an alarm about courier companies two years ago after an anonymous player won a $95 million Lotto Texas jackpot in April 2023. Although the tickets purchases by the player were made in person and not by phone, a group reportedly organized by a gaming entrepreneur operating out of Malta used lottery couriers to buy up nearly all the 25.8 million Lotto number combinations, virtually ensuring it would win the jackpot. Until early this year, lottery officials said they were powerless to regulate courier companies because they purchased tickets. The executive director at the time, Ryan Mindell, reversed course after he was grilled by lawmakers, and recommended the action that prompted LTC Texas' lawsuit.

Read this article at Austin American-Statesman - Subscribers Only

Texas could recoup up to $800M for border effort under latest House spending bill

Congress is considering opening up nearly $800 million in reimbursements that could go to Texas for Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security tactics during the Biden administration. While it is a fraction of the $11 billion that Abbott and Republicans from Texas in Congress have been seeking, the money would be a significant boost to the state. The nearly $800 million was worked into the massive spending bill that the U.S. House is building, which would also include tax cuts that President Donald Trump has been pushing Congress to pass as part of what he calls “one big, beautiful bill.”

While the language in the legislation allows any state to seek reimbursement for immigration enforcement activities along the border, Texas is the only southern border state with a Republican governor that has spent billions on border enforcement as Abbott has under his Operation Lone Star. Among other things, Abbott used state funding to pay for busing migrants to northern cities, deployed state troopers to the border, put down miles of razor wire and built about 60 miles of non-continuous border wall after Biden had halted federal border wall construction. “It’s time to pay Texas back,” U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Houston Republican who filed legislation earlier this year to pay Texas back for all $11 billion, said in summing up the new version of the GOP spending bill. Crenshaw said Texas needs more than what’s in the spending package now. But there is also more time to negotiate on the funding. House Republicans are trying to complete their budget package by around Memorial Day, then Republicans in the Senate are expected to work on their own package in June. Both chambers need to agree on the same numbers for it to get to Trump for his final signature.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

Travis County sues former real estate developer Nate Paul for $2M in unpaid property taxes

The Travis County attorney on Monday sued eight companies owned by the embattled former Austin real estate developer Nate Paul seeking to collect millions in unpaid property taxes. The lawsuits, filed against five limited liability companies and three limited partnerships, demand payment of about $2 million in delinquent property taxes, as well as about $300,000 in legal fees, according to a Monday news release from Travis County Tax Assessor Collector Celia Israel. “Nate Paul has shown a disregard for playing by the rules — that includes paying his property taxes,” Israel said in a statement. Israel said in the news release that repeated attempts to contact Paul regarding the unpaid taxes were unsuccessful.

“Our local taxing units depend on property taxes to plan and build infrastructure like roads and bridges, pay our teachers and public employees and do the critical work of government," she said in a statement. The lawsuit comes less than a month after Paul was ordered by a federal judge to pay $1 million within two years in a long-running federal financial crimes case. Paul at that time was also sentenced to five years of supervised release, including four months of home confinement. Paul in 2023 was indicted in a dozen federal financial crimes cases. Federal investigators accused him of under-reporting his total liabilities and over-reporting his cash to financial institutions in the U.S. and Ireland, thus influencing mortgage lenders’ decisions to give to Paul to buy commercial properties.

Read this article at Austin American-Statesman - Subscribers Only

Jasmine Crockett responds after President Donald Trump calls her a 'low IQ person' in NBC interview

U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett has responded to President Donald Trump after he called her a “low IQ person” during a Sunday interview on NBC News’ Meet the Press. During his appearance on the show, Trump said the Democratic Party was in “disarray” and singled out Crockett, a Texas Democrat who has been a critic of the administration and its policies. “They have a new person named Crockett. I watched her speak the other day. She’s definitely a low IQ person,” the president said. Crockett went to X on Sunday to hit back at the president’s comment, referring to it as immature and inaccurate. “Imagine being busy getting another honorary doctorate & delivering the commencement address to encourage & empower the leaders of “Today,” and right before boarding your flight to depart, learning that diabolical delusional demented dumb Don was busy trying to challenge your IQ, again,” Crockett wrote in a post.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

Houston Texans hope to build new team headquarters that could include an entertainment district

The Houston Texans have received interest from several parties in the greater Houston area about building a new team headquarters and practice facility, which could include an entertainment district similar to the one the Dallas Cowboys and other professional sports teams have built, top officials for the franchise said Monday. The Chronicle reported last month that the Texans were interested in building a new team headquarters separate from NRG Stadium. But owner Cal McNair’s and president Mike Tomon’s latest comments at the Houston Texans Foundation’s annual charity golf tournament Monday morning confirm that it’s a realistic possibility — and maybe even likely — that the Texans will try and build outside of Harris County.

A new headquarters would not change where the Texans play their games. Their lease agreement at NRG Stadium, which is owned by Harris County, runs through 2032. And negotiations for a new lease with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and Harris County officials remain ongoing, McNair said. But they could move their day-to-day operations to a surrounding county. “Where we wind up with the practice facility, I’m not really quite sure yet,” McNair said. “We have a lot of great options and we’ll sort through that sooner rather than later.” McNair said that they are OK with building at or around NRG Park, where there is also significant space available. But the Texans are not limiting their options. “Would we move out? Yeah, we would move out and do a brand new one somewhere,” McNair said, referencing a headquarters and practice facility. “In the Greater Houston area.”

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

Seth J. Chandler: Texas law school clinics provide vital aid in immigration cases. Don't block it

(Seth J. Chandleris a Professor of Law of the past 35 years at the University of Houston.) The Texas House is considering House Bill 1554, a bill barring state entities — including cities, counties and public law school clinics — from using public money for legal representation for people “unlawfully present” in the United States. This proposal surfaces as the national immigration court backlog surpasses 3.6 million cases, with more than 400,000 in Texas alone. Supporters frame the bill as fiscal prudence: Since federal courts don't guarantee government-paid lawyers in civil immigration cases, why should Texas taxpayers foot the bill? In my view, this framing overlooks what the Constitution's due process clause does guarantee: fundamental fairness. While immigration removal proceedings are technically civil, the human costs of mistakes are still immense. For that reason, the Supreme Court still insists deportation hearings must be fair. Nothing in HB 1554 can or will change that fact.

Immigration judges are expected to ensure respondents understand the process and can present defenses. But this ideal often crumbles under crushing caseloads. Immigration judges often juggle more than 4,000 cases, leaving mere minutes per hearing — insufficient time to explain complex laws or develop facts. Every minute a judge spends informing an unrepresented person is a minute lost to the next case in a years-long queue. Public reluctance to fund lawyers for the hundreds of thousands lacking legal status is understandable given that most of those in removal proceedings have no good claim to relief. But the consequences of wrongful removal — permanent family separation, return to persecution or death — in cases where there is a legal entitlement often dwarf penalties in cases where counsel is constitutionally guaranteed. Competent counsel may sometimes slow an immigration case when the facts are murky and the stakes — possible torture, family rupture, or death — demand extra care. But as empirical studies show, by clarifying the law, presenting complete records and steering weak claims away from trial and towards self-deportation, lawyers usually save the court time and accelerate the rest of the docket.

Read this article at Austin American-Statesman - Subscribers Only

AG Paxton announces legal action against Austin ISD for alleged use of critical race theory

Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Monday that his office is taking legal action against the Austin school district as part of an investigation into "whether there is an unwritten policy of developing and teaching" critical race theory. This decades-old academic concept holds that racism is embedded in the country's systems, policies and institutions. In 2021, the Texas Legislature prohibited the use of CRT in public education curricula, along with any material related to the 1619 Project, a New York Times Magazine initiative that aims to emphasize the role slavery played in the country's founding. Paxton decided to take action after his office "was made aware of an Austin ISD official making statements implying that they were using curricula and teaching material linked to the 1619 Project," according to a Monday news release.

"Additionally, another employee stated that there were 'ways to get around' the state’s ban on CRT and discussed that the District’s Board and Superintendent are heavily involved in evaluating and setting policy for the district." The news release didn't specify the exact nature of the legal action taken but said the goal was "to begin the legal process of deposing the Superintendent and Board Trustees for Austin ISD." “It’s outrageous that Austin ISD officials think they can ignore state law to put woke indoctrination in Texas classrooms,” Paxton said in a statement. A district spokesperson declined to comment, citing pending litigation. It’s unclear what evidence Paxton’s office has gathered against the district so far. However, in 2023, an activist publication posted a video of the Austin district’s then-equity officer Stephanie Hawley telling an undercover journalist that the district uses a literacy instructional resource database that “lets us stay out of trouble with the Legislature.”

Read this article at Austin American-Statesman - Subscribers Only

Mike Finger: One last time, Gregg Popovich lives up to the moment

They tried to talk Gregg Popovich out of it. He’d been busting his tail at physical therapy, but he just wasn’t ready. Too many things could have gone wrong. 0:13 / 0:15 What if he’d stumbled walking into the room? What if his legs had given out right there at the podium? What if, after going six months without speaking in public, he couldn’t find his words? All things considered, there would have been no shame in sitting this one out. Baloney. That’s what Popovich often said, in polite company, when someone was looking for an excuse, for a cop-out, for a reason not to take responsibility. He’d spent 29 years as a head coach calling that nonsense what it was. He wasn’t about to start buying into it now.

So, worrywarts and concerned colleagues be damned, Popovich showed up Monday. At 76 years old, still recovering from a stroke, he let a practice gym full of TV cameramen, reporters, staffers and former players watch him as he strode to the microphone, with Manu Ginobili over one shoulder and Tim Duncan over the other. He explained, definitively and with his typical biting humor, why it was time for him to retire from coaching, and why Mitch Johnson is the ideal man to replace him. He showed off his new uniform, a black T-shirt with the title “El Jefe” printed on the front. And when Popovich was finished? Johnson was reminded of what he called the most important thing his predecessor taught him. “You understand the moment,” Johnson told Popovich. Darn right. More than maybe anyone, Popovich knew what it meant for him to be at Victory Capital Performance Center on Monday. He knew what it meant to Johnson, the 38-year-old longtime assistant who’d received a very public vote of confidence from the organization when he was promoted to full-time head coach, but who deserved to get a public endorsement from the winningest coach in NBA history, too.

Read this article at San Antonio Express-News - Subscribers Only

Bill mandating AC for renters meets resistance in Texas Legislature

At the height of Texas summers, residents whose homes lack air conditioners have no escape from the extreme heat. And it’s only getting hotter. Air conditioning has long been considered an amenity for renters in the state, but as temperatures continue to rise, experts and some lawmakers are beginning to see cooling as a fundamental right. State Rep. Sheryl Cole, D-Austin, is trying again this year to pass a bill that guarantees a tenant’s right to air conditioning. The bill would require landlords to provide cooling systems and offer accommodations when repairs take more than five days.

The proposal, which is the same as one Cole filed two years ago, faces a tough road because of hesitancy in the GOP-led House and Senate to put more onus on landlords and more regulations on the books. Nevertheless, proponents believe the issue is becoming more pressing, including in cities like Houston, Austin and San Antonio. “No one should suffer or die in their own home just because they can’t afford air-conditioning,” Rep. Christina Morales, D-Houston, one of the bill’s coauthors, said. “In Texas, this isn’t just about comfort. This is about survival.” In Harris County, 80 deaths were linked to heat-related complications from 2019 to 2023, according to a Harris County Public Health report. Exposure to extreme heat can strain a person’s heart and kidneys as well as worsen chronic conditions and cause acute kidney injuries, according to the World Health Organization.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

Houston Chronicle Editorial Board wins Pulitzer Prize for series on dangers of stopped trains

A series of editorials outlining the failures of railroads and state officials to protect Houstonians from the dangers and inconveniences of stopped and slow-moving trains has won the Houston Chronicle's editorial department its second Pulitzer Prize in four years. “I am proud that this shows the role an editorial board can still have in the community,” said Lisa Falkenberg, the Chronicle’s former opinion editor, now a state columnist. “We are informing, and we are taking it a step further and we are trying to make change in our community.” The Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing follows months of work by the board to identify the problem stopped trains pose in the community and possible solutions aimed at keeping the trains moving or investment in finding ways for people to avoid them.

“It should not be something we have to live with; it can be deadly,” Falkenberg said of the stopped trains. Members of the editorial board honored, in addition to Falkenberg, are deputy opinion editor Raj Mankad, opinion photojournalist Sharon Steinmann and senior editorial writer Leah Binkovitz. Chronicle publisher Nancy Meyer credited the board for having the commitment to challenge officials and compassion to tell the community's stories. “You stayed on it, and that is having impact," Meyer told the winners shortly after the announcement. Judges of the prize credited the editorial board for its “rigorous focus on the people and communities at risk as the newspaper demanded urgent action.” The editorials examined why stopped freight trains have become such a pervasive part of life in some of Houston’s inner-city neighborhoods, which grew up around the tracks but increasingly have felt hemmed in by them.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

$15M lawsuit filed in 2023 death of girl in CBP custody in South Texas

A lawsuit has been filed against the federal government over the 2023 death of an 8-year-old migrant girl while in U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody in South Texas. The wrongful death lawsuit was brought Thursday against the Department of Homeland Security, CBP and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement by the nonprofits Texas Civil Rights Project, the Haitian Bridge Alliance, and the Texas A&M University School of Law Civil Rights Clinic. Anadith Danay Reyes Álvarez died on May 17, 2023, in a CBP processing facility in the border town of Harlingen. The Panamanian-born girl suffered from sickle cell disease and a heart condition. The plaintiffs claim that she died because she did not get “the medical treatment and life-saving emergency care that she deserved and was entitled to under the law” while in CBP custody, according to the lawsuit obtained by Border Report.

Read this article at Border Report - Subscribers Only

Tarrant County Meals On Wheels funding restored by feds

The county agency that disburses federal and state funding to Meals on Wheels of Tarrant County announced late Monday that federal funding will be restored to programs that were affected by funding cuts last week. “Based on a conversation this afternoon with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, we anticipate a return to full funding for the 2025 fiscal year,” said Brian Lee, deputy director of operations and grand data for the Area Agency on Aging of Tarrant County, in an emailed statement. “While the exact timing of the funding release remains uncertain, we’ve been informed that more details will be available in the coming weeks.” Meals On Wheels said in a May 1 press release that the health commission had “suspended reimbursement funding for several key programs,” including medication management, nutrition counseling, wellness checks, transportation and participant assessments. The funding that was cut totaled $450,000.

In late March, HHS announced sweeping cuts to staffing and funding. Monday’s announcement completely restores funding for the department’s Administration for Community living. “The Older Americans Act formula grant funding will be issued to all 50 states and six territories, as well as 293 tribes and tribal organization nationwide, and serves as a reflection of the Department’s commitment to sustaining and strengthening critical community-based programs,” HHS said in a press release. The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Hours earlier on Monday, the state health commission said did not order funding cuts to Meals On Wheels programs, according to a commission spokesperson. “HHSC has not suspended funding for home-delivered meals programming and has not directed that (Area Agencies on Aging) suspend any non-nutritional services,” spokesperson Thomas Vazquez said in an emailed statement, referring to the aforementioned programs. Area Agencies on Aging are service and support agencies authorized by the Older Americans Act of 1965. Part of United Way, the Area Agency on Aging of Tarrant County disburses state and federal funds to Meals On Wheels and other local organizations that provide services to seniors. Meals On Wheels’ meal delivery and group meals programs were not affected by the cuts.

Read this article at Fort Worth Star-Telegram - Subscribers Only

National Stories

Newsom asks Trump to work with him on $7.5 billion tax credit for Hollywood

A day after President Trump stunned Hollywood by calling for steep tariffs on movies “produced in Foreign Lands,” Gov. Gavin Newsom of California said on Monday that he wanted to team up with the Trump administration to craft a $7.5 billion federal film tax credit to aid the entertainment industry. The proposal, if approved, would represent by far the largest single government subsidy program ever for the industry in the United States, and the first of its kind at the federal level. More than three dozen states already give out incentives to lure and retain film and television production, but there is no national program, as is the case in some countries overseas. And there is no single state program that gives out more than about $1 billion each year. California currently allocates $330 million annually.

“America continues to be a film powerhouse, and California is all in to bring more production here,” Mr. Newsom, a Democrat, said in a statement late Monday night. “Building on our successful state program, we’re eager to partner with the Trump administration to further strengthen domestic production and Make America Film Again.” Mr. Newsom’s proposal came in response to the president’s social media post on Sunday that called for a 100 percent tariff on films produced outside the United States. Over the weekend, Mr. Trump met at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida with the actor Jon Voight, whom he has named a “special ambassador” to Hollywood. After that meeting he published his post, declaring: “WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!” The president’s missive caused confusion in Hollywood, which has lost a great deal of local film and television production to states and nations that offer rich tax credits and cheaper labor. While few in the industry said that they understood Mr. Trump’s proposal, some worried that tariffs would cause more harm than good and called instead for federal help in the form of tax credits.

Read this article at New York Times - Subscribers Only

Federal judge says results of North Carolina court race with Democrat ahead must be certified

Disputed ballots in the still unresolved 2024 race for a North Carolina Supreme Court seat must remain in the final count, a federal judge ruled late Monday, a decision that if upheld would result in an electoral victory for Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs. U.S. District Judge Richard Myers agreed with Riggs and others who argued it would be a violation of the U.S. Constitution to carry out recent decisions by state appeals courts that directed the removal of potentially thousands of voter ballots deemed ineligible. Myers wrote that votes couldn’t be removed six months after Election Day without damaging due process and equal protection rights of the affected residents. Myers also ordered the State Board of Elections to certify results that after two recounts showed Riggs the winner — by just 734 votes — over Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin. But the judge delayed his decisions for seven days in case Griffin wants to appeal the ruling to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The board “must not proceed with implementation of the North Carolina Court of Appeals and Supreme Court’s orders, and instead must certify the results of the election for (the seat) based on the tally at the completion of the canvassing period,” wrote Myers, who was nominated to the bench by President Donald Trump. More than 5.5 million ballots were cast in what has been the nation’s last undecided race from November’s general election. Griffin, himself a state Court of Appeals judge, filed formal protests after the election in hopes that removing ballots he said were unlawfully cast would flip the outcome to him. Griffin’s legal team was reviewing Myers’ order Monday night and evaluating the next steps, Griffin campaign spokesperson Paul Shumaker wrote in an email. Riggs was more assured in her statement: “Today, we won. I‘m proud to continue upholding the Constitution and the rule of law as North Carolina’s Supreme Court Justice.”

Read this article at Associated Press - Subscribers Only

GOP targets a Medicaid loophole used by 49 states to grab federal money

In 1989, New Hampshire’s Republican governor, Judd Gregg, had a gaping budget hole he didn’t know how to fill. His health secretary came up with a solution: a tax maneuver he’d learned through the grapevine that would force Washington to send the state millions in extra Medicaid funds. It was called a Medicaid provider tax, and New Hampshire was among the first states to try it. New Hampshire taxed its hospitals and returned dollars to them as higher payments for Medicaid patients’ care. On paper, the tax inflated the state’s Medicaid spending, allowing it to collect more matching funds from the federal government. “It was a way of the state basically gaming the federal government, for lack of a better term,” Mr. Gregg said recently. What started as creative budgeting in New England has, over four decades, snowballed into a mainstay of financing Medicaid, the insurance program for the poor that covers 72 million Americans.

Every state but Alaska has at least one such tax. In some states, provider taxes and related payments bring in more than a third of overall federal funding for the program. Long after these taxes have become entrenched, congressional Republicans are now considering curtailing or ending them as one way to achieve the steep federal spending reductions proposed in the House budget. If they did, it would save the federal government about $600 billion over the next decade, a large chunk of the $880 billion in cuts that the House committee that oversees Medicaid has been charged with finding. The change could hit some Republican-led states the hardest, a recent analysis shows, because their Medicaid budgets tend to be more reliant on the medical provider tax strategy. Even so, the idea has gained traction among conservative think tanks and congressional Republicans, who have recently described the payments as gimmicks, scams and even “money laundering.” “It’s a way that the state is basically just creating federal money out of thin air,” said Brian Blase, the president of the Paragon Institute and the author of a recent paper that analyzes some of the most elaborate ways states exploit the loophole.

Read this article at New York Times - Subscribers Only

Marjorie Taylor Greene rails against direction of Trump administration on Steve Bannon’s War Room

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) railed against the direction of the Trump administration on Steve Bannon’s War Room program Monday, warning that there are people “in the president’s ear” who are “lying to him.” Greene’s comments came after Bannon observed that there’s an emerging narrative about “a wedge coming between the base and President Trump” before making note of a tweet from last week in which the MAGA congresswoman raged that while she “campaigned for no more foreign wars,” the U.S. is now “on the verge of going to war with Iran.” “I represent the base and when I’m frustrated and upset over the direction of things, you better be clear, the base is not happy,” wrote Greene in her post.

She expanded upon that thought on Monday. “Right, It’s a lie. There is no wedge between the base and President Trump. The wedge is between Congress, and the establishment Republicans that are undermining the president’s agenda,” Greene told Bannon before continuing: Also, anyone that gets in the president ear and is lying to him about what he should be doing, you know. Here’s the real issue. This country rose up in a historic way, something that we haven’t seen in our lifetime, Steve, and delivered a mandate. And that mandate was to the Republican Party. The mandate was President Trump’s agenda. The American people said, “No, we’re done with the old Republican Party ways. We are rejecting the Democrat Party’s policies. We are embracing Make America Great Again, MAGA, America First, MAHA, no more foreign wars. This whole populist movement supporting America, and American workers, and American companies, and American interests, and solving American problems.” That’s what November 2024 was about. And Washington, as usual, is tone deaf and has not heard the message. What we saw is all these Republicans that rejected Trump, fought Trump in his first administration, you know. Networks, even like Fox News, that did not support the president, and didn’t support him in 202,1 and 2022, part of 2023, and didn’t support him until they realized they had to support him.

Read this article at Mediaite - Subscribers Only

The tricky politics of this year’s Met Gala

Last October, when the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute announced its next fashion show, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” the political landscape looked very different. Kamala Harris, the first female vice president and the first Black woman ever to top a major-party ticket, was in the final weeks of her campaign for the White House. The show, the culmination of five years of work by Andrew Bolton, the Costume Institute’s curator in charge, to diversify the department’s holdings and shows in the wake of the racial reckoning brought about by George Floyd’s murder, seemed long overdue. On Monday, however, when it finally opens to the starry guests at its signature gala, the splashiest party of the year, it will do so in a very different world. One in which the federal government has functionally declared war on diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as programming related to race — especially in cultural institutions.

In February, President Trump seized control of the Kennedy Center, promising to make its programming less “woke.” Then, in late March, he signed an executive order targeting what the administration described as “improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology” at the Smithsonian museums and threatened to withhold funds for exhibits that “divide Americans by race.” Against that backdrop, the Met’s show, one devoted for the first time entirely to designers of color, which focuses on the way Black men have used fashion as a tool of self-actualization, revolution and subversion throughout American history and the Black diaspora, has taken on an entirely different relevance. Suddenly the Met, one of the world’s wealthiest and most established museums, has begun to look like the resistance. And the gala, which in recent years has been criticized as a tone-deaf display of privilege and fashion absurdity, is being seen as what Brandice Daniel, the founder of Harlem’s Fashion Row, a platform created to support designers of color, called a display of “allyship.”

Read this article at New York Times - Subscribers Only

"I don't know who you are': The race to fix air traffic control

At about 1:30 in the afternoon on April 28, air-traffic controllers overseeing the busy airspace around Newark Liberty International Airport suddenly faced a frightening scenario. The chatter from pilots they were communicating with went silent. Radar screens filled with dots showing aircraft positions went dark. Backup systems failed. Planes bound for the area went into holding patterns. About 90 seconds later, the traffic-control systems started blinking back to life. But problems lingered with the radar, and controllers worried the radios would go out again. “We don’t have a radar, so I don’t know where you are,” a controller told United Airlines Flight 674 arriving from Charleston, S.C., instructing its crew to watch out for other planes without controllers’ help. Another controller offered a warning to a private plane: “I want to at least get you towards something and clear of all the other aircraft in case we lose the frequency again.”

There were no crashes, but scores of flights coming and going were delayed for hours, and dozens scheduled to arrive in Newark were diverted to other airports. The controllers who oversee Newark airspace from the Federal Aviation Administration’s thinly staffed facility in Philadelphia were rattled. Four left the facility that day and sought short-term, trauma-related leave, according to people familiar with the situation. Days later, the controllers’ radios briefly went out again, further scrambling operations in Newark and air travel elsewhere. America’s air-traffic control system has been troubled for years, the culmination of years of anemic funding, archaic technology and staffing problems. A wake-up call sounded on Jan. 29 with a midair collision near the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport that killed 67 people. President Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy have pledged to overhaul the system.

Read this article at Wall Street Journal - Subscribers Only

Falsified records, fake donations: Credit Suisse fined for helping rich Americans hide over $4 billion from the taxman

A Credit Suisse unit has pleaded guilty to US charges of helping ultra-wealthy Americans evade taxes and will pay a fine of more than $510 million. Credit Suisse Services pleaded guilty and was sentenced Monday for conspiring to hide more than $4 billion from the US Internal Revenue Service in at least 475 offshore accounts, the US Department of Justice said in a release Monday. The guilty plea stems from the Swiss bank maintaining accounts in Singapore on behalf of US taxpayers who were using offshore accounts to evade US taxes and reporting requirements, according to the release. “Among other fraudulent acts, bankers at Credit Suisse falsified records, processed fictitious donation paperwork and serviced more than $1 billion in accounts without documentation of tax compliance,” the justice department said. “In doing so, Credit Suisse AG committed new crimes and breached its May 2014 plea agreement with the United States.”

In 2014, Credit Suisse became the largest bank in 20 years to plead guilty to a US criminal charge, agreeing to pay a $2.5 billion fine for helping Americans evade taxes in a conspiracy that spanned decades. Prior to Monday’s settlement, the US Senate Finance Committee in 2023 had found Credit Suisse violated its 2014 deal made with US authorities by continuing to help with the tax evasion and concealing more than $700 million from the government. UBS (UBS), which acquired Credit Suisse in 2023, said Monday that Credit Suisse Services pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to aid and assist in the preparation of false income tax returns. UBS said it was not involved in the underlying conduct, which began before its acquisition of the bank. In addition to the guilty plea and fine, Credit Suisse Services entered into a non-prosecution agreement that requires it and UBS to cooperate with investigations and affirmatively disclose any information it may later uncover regarding US-related accounts, the justice department said.

Read this article at CNN - Subscribers Only

Copyright May 14, 2025, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved