The Texan Podcast

Show off your Lone Star spirit with a free Texas flag hat with an annual subscription to The Texan: https://go.thetexan.news/texas-flag-hat/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=weekly_roundup

The Texan’s Weekly Roundup brings you the latest news in Texas politics, breaking down the top stories of the week with our team of reporters who give you the facts so you can form your own opinion. Enjoy what you hear? Be sure to subscribe and leave a review! 

Got questions for the reporting team? Email [email protected] — they just might be answered on a future podcast. 

This week on The Texan’s Weekly Roundup, the team discusses: 

• The Texas House and Senate striking a deal on property tax reform
• Ken Paxton’s legal team claiming that the House impeachment managers are “withholding information”
• Texas Sen. Roland Gutierrez announcing his candidacy for U.S. Senate to displace Ted Cruz
• Gutierrez lashing out at Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House leadership over the property tax compromise
• A small business owner suing Gov. Abbott over Texas’ new Rio Grande buoy system
• A federal judge dismissing a lawsuit from The Satanic Temple challenging Texas’ laws against abortion
• The El Paso gunman who murdered 22 people in 2019 receiving 90 consecutive life sentences
• A Uvalde parent who was banned from school district property having that ban lifted after a lawsuit threat
• Sen. Ted Cruz announcing bipartisan legislation to crack down on schools linked to the Chinese Communist Party
• The City of Austin suspending its partnership with the Department of Public Safety
• The former El Paso city manager being hired as the city manager of Odessa
• The Texas State Historical Association mediating a lawsuit over its board’s ideological makeup

Rep. Jared Patterson (R-Frisco) joined The Texan’s reporter Cameron Abrams to discuss the READER Act, legislation he authored aimed at removing sexually explicit material from public school libraries.

Signed by Gov. Greg Abbott and set to become effective in September, the legislation will require library book vendors to rate applicable materials as “sexually explicit” or “sexually relevant.” 

“Ultimately, what [the new law] does is it eliminates explicit content and puts in parental controls over other content,” said Patterson. 

Patterson also discussed the ongoing debate between the House and Senate over property tax reform, and when he thinks the standoff will come to an end. 

“I think in the month of July, we will have this completed,” said Patterson. “All it takes is for both sides to come to the table in good faith.” 

Patterson also discussed the possible outcome of a special legislative session regarding school choice, as well as the legislature’s efforts to improve the reliability of the energy grid. 

Enjoy this content? Be sure to subscribe for similar interviews and The Texan’s Weekly Roundup — a podcast released every Friday that brings you the latest news in Texas politics.

Show off your Lone Star spirit with a free Texas flag hat with an annual subscription to The Texan: https://go.thetexan.news/texas-flag-hat/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=weekly_roundup

The Texan’s Weekly Roundup brings you the latest news in Texas politics, breaking down the top stories of the week with our team of reporters who give you the facts so you can form your own opinion. Enjoy what you hear? Be sure to subscribe and leave a review! 

Got questions for the reporting team? Email [email protected] — they just might be answered on a future podcast. 

This week on The Texan’s Weekly Roundup, the team discusses: 

• An additional 9,800 babies born in Texas as a result of the state’s laws against abortion
• The state’s ERCOT grid setting a new energy demand record amid its first test this year in the Texas heat
• Paxton’s attorney saying that he will not testify in his upcoming impeachment trial
• The U.S. Supreme Court ruling that a web designer can refuse to make a website for a same-sex wedding
• A federal judge in Texas vacating a Biden administration rule against “ghost gun” gun kits
• Ken Paxton’s associate Nate Paul being tried on fraud charges prior to Paxton’s impeachment trial
• The U.S. Supreme Court overturning affirmative action in higher education admissions as “unconstitutional”
• Colin Allred branding himself as a moderate in his campaign against Sen. Ted Cruz
• Competing West Texas proposals for recapturing oil and gas taxes fail in Texas Senate
• The Texas Supreme Court passing on deciding the constitutionality of the governor’s emergency powers
• Federal border officials cutting barbed wire to allow illegal immigrants to cross and escape from the heat
• The City of Houston suing Texas over the state’s new local government preemption law
• A Dallas Walgreens partnering with a “sexual health services” clinic to offer sexual health care, including “gender-affirming car

Want to support reporting on Texas politics that doesn’t include the spin? Subscribe at https://thetexan.news/subscribe/  

Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX-19) joined The Texan’s reporter Matt Stringer to discuss federal issues facing Congress, including the recent referral of articles of impeachment, the how House Republicans plan to respond to the border crisis amid the expiration of Title 42, and negotiations over the budget as elected officials raised the debt ceiling again last month. 

“Two out of the three seats at the negotiating table were occupied by Democrats, and we still came out with a bill that would reduce spending for the first time in over a decade,” said Arrington. “That reduced discretionary spending year over year for the next two years. Now that’s not going to save the country from a debt crisis, but it’s stopping the bleeding.” 

Arrington also weighed in with his thoughts on the Republican presidential primary and the main candidates in the race. 

Enjoy this content? Be sure to subscribe for similar interviews and The Texan’s Weekly Roundup — a podcast released every Friday that brings you the latest news in Texas politics.

Show off your Lone Star spirit with a free Texas flag hat with an annual subscription to The Texan: https://go.thetexan.news/texas-flag-hat/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=weekly_roundup

The Texan’s Weekly Roundup brings you the latest news in Texas politics, breaking down the top stories of the week with our team of reporters who give you the facts so you can form your own opinion. Enjoy what you hear? Be sure to subscribe and leave a review! 

Got questions for the reporting team? Email [email protected] — they just might be answered on a future podcast. 

This week on The Texan’s Weekly Roundup, the team discusses: 

• The Texas House and Senate advancing their property tax relief plans in the second called special session
• Mitchell Jordan defeating Krissy Clark to become mayor of Palestine
• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign rally with Texas officials
• The Vatican investigating Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, a critic of Pope Francis and Joe Biden
• The U.S. border patrol’s drop in illegal immigrant encounters after the end of the Title 42 
• A Texas appeals court considering a Galveston homeowners associaton’s ban on short-term rentals
• A Texas judge sanctioned for not officiating same-sex marriages heading to the state Supreme Court
• Odessa negotiating with the Texas GOP executive director to become city manager
• Four additional suspects charged in the nation’s deadliest human smuggling incident in San Antonio last year
• A biology professor fired for student complaints over his comments on religion and gender
• The Texas law enforcement who went to Poland to conduct training on human trafficking prevention

Want to support reporting on Texas politics that doesn’t include the spin? Subscribe at https://thetexan.news/subscribe/

This week, Brad Johnson, interviewed economist Vance Ginn about the competing property tax proposals that have been debated as the stalemate on relief continues between the Texas House and Senate.

They discuss the policies at the center of the debate — homestead exemptions, appraisal caps, and compression rates — as well as the possibility of eliminating the school maintenance and operations portion of property taxes.

Enjoy this content? Be sure to subscribe for similar interviews and The Texan’s Weekly Roundup — a podcast released every Friday that brings you the latest news in Texas politics.

Show off your Lone Star spirit with a free Texas flag hat with an annual subscription to The Texan: https://go.thetexan.news/texas-flag-hat/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=weekly_roundup

The Texan’s Weekly Roundup brings you the latest news in Texas politics, breaking down the top stories of the week with our team of reporters who give you the facts so you can form your own opinion. Enjoy what you hear? Be sure to subscribe and leave a review! 

Got questions for the reporting team? Email [email protected] — they just might be answered on a future podcast. 

This week on The Texan’s Weekly Roundup, the team discusses: 

• The Texas Senate adopting rules for Ken Paxton’s Senate impeachment trial
• Former Texas Congressman Will Hurd running for the 2024 presidential GOP nomination
• The Texas GOP condemning the impeachment of Paxton
• The Senate passing a new $12.7 billion property tax plan in the midst of its standoff with the Texas House
• Federal judges hearing arguments over removed books in a Texas public library
• Democrats vying to replace Cruz challenger Rep Colin Allred
• Palestine’s mayoral candidates defending themselves from accusations of wrongdoing and criminal histories
• Gov. Greg Abbott breaking his personal veto record with 76 vetoes for the 88th regular session
• The Texas Education Agency’s proposals to update its school district rating system
• Abbott signing a law to increase Texans’ online user data protections
• Texas Christian University teaching an elective course on drag performances

Show off your Lone Star spirit with a free Texas flag hat with an annual subscription to The Texan: https://go.thetexan.news/texas-flag-hat/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=weekly_roundup

The Texan’s Weekly Roundup brings you the latest news in Texas politics, breaking down the top stories of the week with our team of reporters who give you the facts so you can form your own opinion. Enjoy what you hear? Be sure to subscribe and leave a review! 

Got questions for the reporting team? Email [email protected] — they just might be answered on a future podcast. 

This week on The Texan’s Weekly Roundup, the team discusses: 

• Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick saying his “good faith” with Speaker Dade Phelan is “broken”
• The Texas House appointing a committee in anticipation of a school choice special session 
• Gov. Greg Abbott threatening mass vetoes unless the Legislature reaches a compromise on property taxes
• The end of Texas’ three-year COVID-19 disaster declaration
• Abbott signing the “READER Act” to remove explicit materials from public school libraries
• Abbott’s illegal immigrant busing program expanding to Los Angeles
• The new leader of the U.S. Border Patrol 
• A court ruling it unconstitutional for the federal government to impose vaccine mandates on Texas National Guardsmen
• Sen. Ted Cruz requesting answers from Mark Zuckerberg over child sexual abuse networks on Instagram
• A poll showing Cruz leading his Democratic challenger Colin Allred by 5 percent 
• The Legislature approving $1.5 billion for the expansion of rural internet service
• Controversies and criminal histories in the race to become mayor of Palestine
• A lawsuit against the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office alleging violations of constitutional rights

Get a FREE “Fake News Stops Here” mug when you buy an annual subscription to The Texan: https://go.thetexan.news/mug-fake-news-stops-here-2022/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=weekly_roundup 

The Texan’s Weekly Roundup brings you the latest news in Texas politics, breaking down the top stories of the week with our team of reporters who give you the facts so you can form your own opinion. Enjoy what you hear? Be sure to subscribe and leave a review! 

Got questions for the reporting team? Email [email protected] — they just might be answered on a future podcast. 

This week on The Texan’s Weekly Roundup, the team discusses: 

• Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick calling Abbott’s plan to abolish property taxes a “fantasy”
• The lawyers for Attorney General Ken Paxton appearing at the Texas GOP headquarters to criticize his impeachment
• Brian Harrison asking Gov. Greg Abbott to add vaccine mandate bans to the special session agenda
• Sen. Ted Cruz criticizing a new law in Uganda that increases criminal penalties for homosexuality
• Abbott signing into law a ban on child gender modification in Texas
• The replacement for the state’s Chapter 313 school district tax break program
• A slate of new public safety laws that cracks down on street racing and “rogue district attorneys”
• The journey of bill to expand police records disclosures to the governor’s desk
• The Legislature’s market reforms to the state’s ERCOT power grid before the sweltering summer
• A new alternative to the Texas Association of School Boards
• Two Houston women sentenced to a decade each for drug trafficking and conspiracy

Get a FREE “Fake News Stops Here” mug when you buy an annual subscription to The Texan: https://go.thetexan.news/mug-fake-news-stops-here-2022/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=weekly_roundup 

The Texan’s Weekly Roundup brings you the latest news in Texas politics, breaking down the top stories of the week with our team of reporters who give you the facts so you can form your own opinion. Enjoy what you hear? Be sure to subscribe and leave a review! 

Got questions for the reporting team? Email [email protected] — they just might be answered on a future podcast. 

This week, the team discusses the biggest hits of the 88th Legislative Session, including the impeachment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, where political priorities like school choice and border security stand after sine die, and the start of the first special session of summer 2023.