In this final installment of our series of talks with Democratic lawmakers, coming to you on the first day of the 89th Texas Legislature, we wrap up with Rep. James Talarico of the Austin area, a Williamson County native who was first elected to represent House District 50 in 2018, and survived an attempt by Republicans to draw him out of the picture via redistricting by achieving reelection in District 52. He's a graduate of both the University of Texas and Harvard, and is currently working on a Master of Divinity at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary - Rep. Talarico has become known as a prime resource for understanding progressive ideals through the lens of Christian theology.

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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

In defiance of the Texas Republican Party, three dozen House GOP electeds voted along with most of the Democratic minority yesterday to elect Rep. Dustin Burrows of Lubbock House Speaker: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/14/dustin-burrows-david-cook-texas-house-speaker-vote/

Several Democratic House members declined to vote for Burrows, who himself is pretty darn MAGA, while a handful curiously voted for Cook, who had pledged to sideline them in the session: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/14/texas-house-speaker-vote-breakdown/

...Texas GOP leadership is swearing retribution against Burrows and his Republican followers: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/01/14/in-contentious-vote-texas-house-chooses-dustin-burrows-as-speaker/

...That same GOP leadership took part in Christian Nationalist revival-style rallies at the Capitol yesterday, openly denying any separation between church and state: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/15/texas-legislature-christianity-church-state-separation/

...Congratulations to Dallas Rep. Venton Jones and his longtime partner Gregory Scott Jr, who got engaged on the House floor yesterday right after Jones was sworn in:

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments today over a Texas law requiring pornography websites to verify the age of users - a law with much broader implications than just porn: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/pornhub-supreme-court-20034583.php

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Texas State Representative Erin Zwiener of Driftwood, one of the youngest members of the Legislature, has a resume full of fun facts: prior to her political life, she was a contestant on Jeopardy! four times, winning over $53,000. She later got involved with the Indivisible movement after the 2016 Trump win, challenged Republican Rep. Jason Isaac for his seat while she was pregnant, won that year's Democratic primary by less than 200 votes, gave birth during the campaign and eventually beat Isaac with 51% of the vote - she's served in the House ever since.

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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Steve Bannon, arguably the master designer of MAGA, has announced intent to "take down" Texas-based billionaire and current Trump puppetmaster Elon Musk: https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/5081681-steve-bannon-says-he-will-take-down-the-truly-evil-elon-musk/

Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller may be on a collision course, with Miller opposing Patrick's sworn blanket ban of THC products from Texas: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/texas-agriculture-commissioner-says-regulation-could-be-alternative-to-banning-thc/287-984da04c-6419-4012-9803-c9c2ed88e8a2

...While former Texas Governor Rick Perry goes on the Joe Rogan podcast to push the psychedelic drug ibogaine, which he believes holds promise as a treatment for brain injuries, addiction, and PTSD: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/rick-perry-joe-rogan-ibogaine-20014985.php

Just as the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality or TCEQ brings on a new leader, it's under fire for recent denials of formerly-routine public meetings on emissions permit renewals: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jZAUiocksOMUvQdsKaS7iYL2HUm1leBHUnjY2q8QSj8/edit?tab=t.0

A compound intended to house recently-released January 6th convicts is being built in the Texas Hill Country near Luckenbach: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/planned-sanctuary-for-january-6-prisoners/

The number of people leaving Texas in protest of our political climate and policies is beginning to rival the number of people arriving from elsewhere: https://www.texasmonthly.com/being-texan/meet-10-liberals-who-fled-texas/

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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Ken Paxton has filed a second lawsuit against TikTok, alleging that they have far exceeded their stated limits on questionable content being made available to minors, and more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/01/09/texas-sues-tiktok-alleging-platform-is-dangerous-for-minors-enables-harmful-content/

...The platform may not be available in the U.S. for much longer anyway, depending on how a hearing at the U.S. Supreme Court goes today: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/09/ken-paxton-tiktok-minors-explicit-content/

Both of Texas' U.S. Senators, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, have stated their intent to support all of Donald Trump's cabinet picks - including the looniest ones: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/09/texas-senators-cruz-cornyn-trump-cabinet-nominees/

...Cruz is also all in on Trump's dream of annexing Greenland, citing new shipping lanes made available by Arctic ice melting amidst global warming and a wealth of natural resources to be plundered: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/09/ted-cruz-greenland-donald-trump/

A deal being worked on between Governor Abbott and Democratic Houston Mayor John Whitmire to sell Houston's water to parched West Texas falls in line with our state's history of bad ideas regarding water management: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/abbott-whitmire-texas-water-sale-20023172.php

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Senator Nathan Johnson of Dallas is a business attorney and music composer by trade, and has served the people of Senate District 16 since 2018, when he became the first Democrat to take that seat in decades - displacing since-perennial gubernatorial loser Don Huffines.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

The Austin Chronicle has published a nice, multi-issue preview of the upcoming Legislature, set to begin next Tuesday: https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2025-01-10/with-trump-taking-office-the-texas-lege-is-unleashed/

Pro-Dustin Burrows GOP Rep. Cody Harris of East Texas has filed a complaint against Texas Republican Party Chair Abraham George over the party's plan to block the primary applications of Republicans who fail to back Party favorite David Cook for House Speaker: https://bsky.app/profile/collincountydems.bsky.social/post/3lfbzc5dcd22w

Texas has still not signed up for a $2 billion federal program to feed lower-income kids during summer - but there's still time, so NOW is the time to practice calling your Senator and Representative to let them know you want action: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/09/texas-summer-school-lunch-food-stamp/

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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says his company is abandoning its efforts at fact-checking, and moving its content moderation operations to Texas - a move apparently meant to appease Donald Trump: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/07/texas-meta-content-moderators-fact-checking/

...Texas also provides legal cover for social media platforms who prefer to allow falsehoods to spread without limit: https://www.wired.com/story/meta-elon-musks-lead-trust-safety-billionaire-friendly-texas/

Texas remains one of the three states hosting the most organized hate-based and anti-government organizations: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/nearly-100-extremist-groups-operate-in-texas-heres-the-list-21462538

South Texas business leaders are very much concerned about Trump's deportation sweep undermining their operations: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/08/texas-immigration-mass-deportations-economy/

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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Attorney General Ken Paxton and Texas Republican Party Abraham George have started a tour of the state designed to intimidate GOP lawmakers into voting for Mansfield Rep. David Cook for Speaker next week: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/paxton-issues-warning-to-texas-house-republicans-in-bitter-speaker-battle/

Elon Musk and Tesla want to hog as much as 8 million gallons of water PER DAY for their new lithium refinery near Corpus Christi - already a desperately dry part of Texas: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/musk-massive-tesla-lithium-plant-110009148.html

Texas Supreme Court Justice Jimmy Blacklock, of "Jimmy John and Jane" fame, has become the new Chief Justice of that body: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/politics/lone-star-politics/gov-abbott-appoints-justice-jimmy-blacklock-as-texas-supreme-court-chief-justice/3734512/

...The Texas Supreme Court, just as winter weather threatens, is also preparing to review thousands of lawsuits against Texas utility companies related to the power disaster during 2021's Winter Storm Uri: https://www.fox4news.com/news/texas-supreme-court-hearing-2021-winter-storm-lawsuits-could-signal-plan-change-ruling

North Texas appears to be the primary target of the incoming polar vortex - monitor the Texas power grid here: https://www.ercot.com/gridmktinfo/dashboards/gridconditions

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