Y'all-itics

The battle over Texas’ educational soul will continue during a special session likely to be called in October when lawmakers once again grapple over the issues that have politicized Texas classrooms: education savings accounts (ESAs), per pupil spending and teacher pay. Two former superintendents turned education activists grabbed a beer to join the Jasons and discuss what’s at stake when lawmakers reconvene.

Guests

Dr. Brian Woods, Texas School Alliance President/Former Northside ISD Superintendent

HD Chambers, Texas School Alliance Exec. Dir./Former Alief ISD Superintendent

TSA: https://texasschoolalliance.org/home-2/

Synopsis:  A small security company in Texas is swamped with calls from big school districts in a hurry to find enough officers to comply with a new state law that starts in September requiring an officer on every campus. The mandate is expensive, controversial, and filled with complexities. But can it prevent another Uvalde? 

Guest: Charlie Hollis, Director of Operations, L&P Global Security 

Location: Bitter Sisters Brewery

  15103 Surveyor Blvd, Addison, TX 75001

SYNOPSIS:

Texas Democrats should not be satisfied with legislative scraps from Republicans, says state Rep. John Bryant. At 76, this veteran Dallas Democrat ordered an IPA and shared how much the Texas legislature has changed since his first stint there in the 1970s and offered advice on how his party could regain control. This episode was recorded at the iconic Stoneleigh P in Dallas, which will be changing locations in 2024 on its 51st birthday.

GUESTS

 Laura Garrison, Stoneleigh P

State Rep. John Bryant, D-Dallas (HD 114)

If you want to move grandma onto your own property, why can’t you? A growing, bi-partisan movement argues that if more people say “yes, in my backyard,” the housing crisis in Texas – affordability and availability - would begin to disappear. But as one of the leaders of that effort explains, it’s hard to convince folks that new neighbors don’t necessarily mean new problems.

Guest

Nicole Nosek, Chair/Texans for Reasonable Solutions

Texans for Reasonable Solutions

The state of Texas is investigating claims that troopers working along the border were ordered to withhold water from migrants trying to cross… even reportedly pushing some back into the river. It’s happening in Eagle Pass, Texas, the same area where the Governor recently deployed a long line of buoys to deter crossings. Just before Mexico filed an official diplomatic complaint, a kayaker and lifelong resident became the first to sue the Governor over his wall of buoys on the Rio Grande. Not only is it destroying his business, but Jessie Fuentes says it will do nothing to stop migrants seeking asylum. Before he makes his argument in court, he’s first explaining it to the Jasons.

Guest

Jessie Fuentes

Owner, Epi’s Canoe & Kayak Team

Epi's Canoe & Kayak Team LLC - Home (episcanoekayakteam.com)

Y’all-itics early release: July 14, 2023

John Scott might not be a household name, but he is a go-to for Governor Abbott. As we were releasing this episode of Y’all-itics, Scott was leaving after six weeks as the temporary Texas Attorney General. And that was not too longer after he served for more than a year as Secretary of State. Scott provides us our first glimpse inside the office since Paxton’s suspension. And he left something the office needed right now.

Guest

John Scott

Former provisional Attorney General of Texas/Former Texas Secretary of State

Y’all-itics: July 10, 2023

Hours after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan announced an agreement on property taxes, Patrick took our call to explain what made the deal. And what did not. The final version of this legislation included something new.

GUEST

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, (R) Texas

Y’all-itics: July 9, 2023

It has been another momentous term for the U.S. Supreme Court, full of bombshell decisions, from “gutting” affirmative action in college admissions, to upholding the Voting Rights Act. The high court has always made important and controversial decisions... one of the nation’s premiere constitutional law experts, Professor Stephen Vladeck from the University of Texas at Austin, says what makes this court stand out is how it is conducting its business.

** The Jasons recorded this interview hours before the SCOTUS ruling that struck down President Biden’s plan to forgive student loan debt and their decision in the case involving a Colorado website designer and LGBTQ rights

GUEST

Stephen Vladeck, University of Texas School of Law

Texans pay some of the highest property taxes in the nation. And despite big promises, Texas Republicans still haven’t delivered relief to property owners. Can they finally agree on anything during the second special session now underway in Austin? The Jasons turn to the political insider’s insider to find out. And Scott Braddock, the editor of the Quorum Report, explains why property tax relief has become a “legislative Vietnam.”

GUEST

Scott Braddock, Quorum Report editor

www.quorumreport.com