Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: A coalition of progressive groups gathered at the Capitol for a news conference stating opposition to school vouchers yesterday: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2023/10/18/our-taxes-shouldnt-be-paying-for-discrimination-activists-speak-to-equity-support-concerns-in-school/71232595007/ Jim Jordan is even further short of the votes he needs to become Speaker of the House - trailing Democrat Hakeem Jeffries - with three Tex...
Oct 19, 2023•9 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Of the 20 Republican holdouts stopping Jim Jordan from becoming Speaker yesterday, only 3 were from Texas: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/how-did-texas-congressional-delegation-vote-for-speaker-of-the-house/ Jonathan Stickland, following a day-long hang with notorious Nazi Nick Fuentes, appears to be out as president of the hard-right Defend Texas Liberty PAC: https://www.ksat.com/news/texas/2023/10/18/defend-texas-liberty-pac-nam...
Oct 18, 2023•8 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The Texas Senate ignored protests from business groups and passed a ban on private employers requiring COVID-19 vaccines: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/texas-considers-banning-covid-19-vaccine-mandates/ The Sheriff of Bexar County believes Florida Governor Ron Desantis broke the law with his flying of migrants from San Antonio to Martha's Vinyard last year: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/10/texas-sheriff-hasnt-forgotten-about-ron-de...
Oct 17, 2023•6 min
Stories we're following at Progress Texas: Senate-approved legislation allowing private school vouchers heads to the House today: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/politics/lone-star-politics/passing-the-texas-senate-education-savings-accounts-have-tougher-road-in-house/3360879/ ...Governor Abbott is confident that vouchers are "on the one-yard line": https://www.kxan.com/state-of-texas/state-of-texas-public-funds-for-private-schools-plan-on-the-one-yard-line/ A big win for opponents of Galveston Coun...
Oct 16, 2023•10 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: As expected, school vouchers have passed the Texas Senate: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/senate-school-vouchers-18421617.php Governor Abbott says he'll only add funding for public schools and raises for teachers to the agenda if the House also passes vouchers: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/12/greg-abbott-school-vouchers-teacher-raises/ The Senate also passed two immigration-related bills yesterday: https://w...
Oct 13, 2023•8 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Vouchers, should they pass, threaten to bankrupt the state - and are also fundamentally unfair to Texas taxpayers without children: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/vouchers-financial-cost-unfair-texas-18415344.php GOP Rep. Tony Tinderholt has filed a resolution apologizing to Ken Paxton for the impeachment effort: https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2023-10-11/something-nice-for-paxton-new-resol...
Oct 12, 2023•8 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Governor Abbott's school voucher bill passed easily on party lines by the Senate Education Committee, now goes to the full body: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2023/10/10/texas-senates-education-savings-account-proposal-kicks-off-school-choice-debate/ ...Over the objections of advocates for students with disabilities: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/10/texas-school-vouchers-disabilities-special-session/ ...All eyes on House ...
Oct 11, 2023•9 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Texas Republicans are at each other's throats as the special session on school vouchers opens: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/09/special-session-school-vouchers-dan-patrick-dade-phelan/ Headline of the month: "Why Texas Moms Could Sink School Choice": https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/yall-itics/texas-moms-could-sink-school-choice/287-acab7fd5-3f4f-4d5e-9294-9e3284ba0e38 The effects of the new Israel/Hamas clash will be felt ...
Oct 10, 2023•9 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: A third special session called this year by Governor Greg Abbott is set to kick off this morning at the Texas State Capitol: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/school-vouchers-border-security-and-covid-mandate-bans-heres-what-to-expect-in-texas-3rd-special-session/ ...Which we covered extensively in this weekend's special edition of the Progress Texas Happy Hour: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-130-why-school-vouchers...
Oct 09, 2023•11 min
Governor Greg Abbott has followed through with his promise to call the Texas Legislature back for a third time - at the very least - in his effort to push through his deeply unpopular plan to redirect millions of taxpayer dollars to private schools - many of them with church ties - at the expense of the public schools those dollars were collected to support. School vouchers have been defeated over, and over, and over for decades in Texas - WHY is the Governor so dead set on something almost nobo...
Oct 06, 2023•43 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: President Joe Biden says he had "no choice" but to authorize 20 miles of new border wall through a sensitive environmental zone in South Texas: https://apnews.com/article/biden-us-mexico-border-wall-immigration-texas-f99fd10257292a898618236df3613979 Biden's lack of faith in the efficacy of border walls clashes with a statement by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who says they're needed: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/05...
Oct 06, 2023•8 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Both sides of the political divide now recognize that the U.S. is experiencing an immigration crisis: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/influx-migrants-border-gains-renewed-attention-crisis-rhetoric-spreads-rcna118595#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16964949969634&csi=1&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcnews.com%2Fpolitics%2Fpolitics-news%2Finflux-migrants-border-gains-renewed-attent...
Oct 05, 2023•10 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: After resisting his nomination, all Texas U.S. Reps stuck with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to the end: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/03/texas-republicans-kevin-mccarthy-speaker-vote/ ...And now, Fort Bend Rep. Troy Nehls wants Donald Trump to be the new Speaker: https://www.khou.com/article/news/politics/troy-nehls-nominates-donald-trump-speaker-of-the-house/285-ac4a2f55-bbe0-4df0-90f5-ae0d8f7dc843 House impeachment managers re...
Oct 04, 2023•7 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of San Antonio and South Texas was thankfully unharmed after carjackers stole his car at gunpoint in D.C. last night: https://apnews.com/article/congress-henry-cuellar-carjacking-capitol-texas-87eddb457f20ec614fbb473115480987 State Senator Juan Hinojosa writes an op-ed on why school vouchers would be bad for Texas: https://riograndeguardian.com/hinojosa-say-no-to-school-vouchers-in-texas/ House Speaker Dade Phelan is...
Oct 03, 2023•10 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Four U.S. House Reps from Texas fought to the bitter end in their mission to shut down the government: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/29/texas-republicans-government-shutdown-vote/ ...While Rep. Greg Casar of Austin sheds light on what the GOP in D.C. is really after: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2023/09/28/biden-impeachment-inquiry-republicans-refuse-acknowledge-trump-accountability-cases/70995287007/ Governor Abb...
Oct 02, 2023•10 min
Anti-abortion attorneys have begun pressing Texas abortion funds for information on the people they've assisted, and those who have supported the funds, apparently intending future legal action under SB-8: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/28/texas-lawyer-abortion-ban-procedure-patient-information ...While, as expected, remote Cochran County becomes the first county bordering another state to enact a so-called "abortion trafficking" ordinance: https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/news/po...
Sep 29, 2023•11 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: A partial shutdown of the federal government, ever more likely as of this weekend, will immediately impact Texans, in ways we may not have considered: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/27/government-shutdown-texas/ ...Farmers in Texas will be impacted as well: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/27/farm-bill-texas-agriculture/ Many in the crowds of migrants overwhelming El Paso have no destination in mind, and no means to get there: htt...
Sep 28, 2023•12 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: A Houston-based federal judge has found SB-12, the new state law banning drag performances, unconstitutional: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/drag-shows-lawsuit-18390106.php State Comptroller Glenn Hegar calls Ken Paxton's bluff on his demand for back pay from his impeachment suspension: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/texas-comptroller-attorney-general-ken-paxton-cannot-receive-pay-back-from-suspension-time...
Sep 27, 2023•13 min
Following the Paxton impeachment, you may have been ready for Texas politics to get a little more boring, at least for a little while - but that wasn't to be, especially if you live in Dallas. Friday saw the national announcement via an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal (!) of the defection of Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson from the Democratic Party - with whose support he had been re-elected just months ago - to a Republican Party fraught with infighting and anti-democratic goals. We've invited our g...
Sep 27, 2023•25 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Former Ken Paxton AG's Office employees turned whistleblower will press their case forward: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/whistleblowers-paxton-lawsuit-18387875.php ...While their former boss is also seeking back pay from the impeachment period: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/09/25/texas-ag-ken-paxton-seeking-back-pay-for-time-suspended-while-under-impeachment/ ...And a look at the rare Texas state p...
Sep 26, 2023•9 min
El Paso's mayor says his city is nearing a "breaking point" with the continued heavy stream of migrants: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-paso-texas-at-breaking-point-migrants-flood-border-mayor-says-2023-09-23/ Infighting within the Texas GOP appears to have passed a point of no return: https://www.khou.com/article/news/politics/texas-republican-fighting/285-eb96a95a-caaf-4a71-b20c-a4b67e314ef2 Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson switches parties to become a Republican: https://www.tpr.org/gover...
Sep 25, 2023•13 min
An unusual surge in migrant crossings at the U.S./Mexico border continues and remains without a pinpointed cause: https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/21/us/migrant-crossings-eagle-pass-state-of-emergency/index.html ...The effects of the surge are being felt in San Antonio: https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/migrants-surge-resource-center-18380326.php Ken Paxton, exonerated (pardoned?) by fellow Republicans, goes on the attack against...his fellow Republicans: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2023/0...
Sep 22, 2023•10 min
An unusually large wave of migrants has crossed into and is now crowding Eagle Pass: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/20/us/texas-border-eagle-pass-migrants.html ...While escalated inspections of incoming cars and trucks have again caused major backups of international shipping traffic: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2023/09/20/texasbordereagle-passimmigrationgreg-abbott/ Several GOP Senators were primed to vote to convict Ken Paxton in his recent impeachment, but were spooked into switching the...
Sep 21, 2023•13 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Education in the spotlight, as Governor Greg Abbott promises special session after special session - and threatens primary challenges for Republican resistors - in his quest for school vouchers: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2023/09/19/texas-gov-abbott-threatens-special-sessions-even-primary-battles-to-pass-school-choice/ ...While school districts across the state are already struggling to survive: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/19/...
Sep 20, 2023•9 min
Following his acquittal from impeachment, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton faces even more serious state and federal charges: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/18/us/texas-ken-paxton-legal-problems.html ...While Republicans who voted to convict him face problems from within their own party: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/16/ken-paxton-impeachment-kelly-hancock-robert-nichols/ ...Former President Trump takes credit (of course) for Paxton's acquittal: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-batt...
Sep 19, 2023•10 min
The acquittal of Ken Paxton is anything but a surprise to progressives in Texas: https://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/nicole-russell/article279427534.html ...More entertaining is the escalation of GOP infighting: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2023/09/18/texas-legislature-senate-house-split-deepens-attorney-general-ken-paxton-acquittal/70885735007/ ...Lt. Governer Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan are at severe odds over the impeachment: https://www.texastribune.org...
Sep 18, 2023•11 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Ken Paxton defense lead Tony Buzbee calls four friendly witnesses - all current Texas AG Office employees - before resting: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2023/09/14/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-impeachment-trial-live-updates-coverage-day-eight/70836056007/ Donald Trump weighs in - while admitting he doesn't think President Biden is too old to server: https://www.axios.com/2023/09/14/trump-biden-age-2024-election S...
Sep 15, 2023•10 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Anticipation that Ken Paxton's alleged mistress might testify in the ongoing impeachment trial is for naught: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article279286904.html ...As former Paxton aide Drew Wicker is grilled over that infamous kitchen remodel: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/13/ken-paxton-impeachment-trial-drew-wicker/ ...And House managers commit an unforced (and almost catastrophic) error: ht...
Sep 14, 2023•9 min
Some Texans have been paying close attention all day, every day for the last week as the historic impeachment of Ken Paxton unfolds - others have, you know, jobs and stuff. So we're glad to have stolen a bit of time today with one particular Texan who's doing both at the same time! Justin Miller writes on Texas politics for the Texas Observer and has been covering every minute of the proceedings - which as of tonight, appear to be on the verge of wrapping up. Will Paxton be convicted? And what c...
Sep 14, 2023•23 min
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Impeachment Day 6: Outside lawyer Brandon Cammack, central to Ken Paxton's questionable relationship with Nate Paul, appears to have ended up a victim himself: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/09/12/ken-paxton-impeachment-trial-takeaways-day-6/ ...While former Travis County DA Margaret Moore testifies that she found Nate Paul's claims of law enforcement persecution "ridiculous": https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-gover...
Sep 13, 2023•9 min
