AG Paxton Again In Legal War With Austin Over Local Mask Mandate

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Accusing Austin and Travis County officials of violating Gov. Greg Abbott's pandemic-related orders, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton threatened Wednesday to sue unless a local mask mandate for businesses was rescinded, the Austin American-Statesman reports.

The legal drama is likely to be playing out today in Texas courts.

Abbott's most recent executive order, which ended a statewide mask mandate and prohibited limits on business operations, "has the force and effect of state law and supersedes local rules and regulations," Paxton said in a letter to Austin Mayor Steve Adler and Travis County Judge Andy Brown.

The governor's order urges all people in the state to continue to follow best practices oh, and allows businesses to individually require masks within their stores.
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Bill Would Limit Governor's Emergency Powers

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A powerful Texas House committee on Thursday is set to consider one of Speaker Dade Phelan’s top legislative priorities this session: a bill that would address the governor’s emergency powers during a pandemic, reports the Texas Tribune today.

But before the House State Affairs Committee convenes, a number of major changes are being prepared for the legislation, including the creation of a legislative oversight committee that in some cases would have the authority to terminate a pandemic disaster declaration issued by the governor.

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Lt. Gov. Calls On Utilities Commission To Correct Pricing Error

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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has called on the Texas Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to correct the emergency pricing error that continued after the power shortage had ended and the major threat to the Texas grid had passed.

In a press release Monday, the lieutenant governor wrote: 

“We are continuing to investigate the power outages of the February 15 arctic blast which plunged millions of Texans into darkness.

“In response to grid-wide power shortages starting February 15, the PUC ordered ERCOT to institute the $9,000 per megawatt hour cost cap, which is designed to encourage increased power generation during an extreme shortage. 

"However, according to the Independent Market Monitor (IMM), ERCOT incorrectly extended that pricing intervention after the power shortage had ended. The $9,000 price should have ended at 11:55 PM on February 17. Instead, it continued throughout the entire day of February 18 into February 19th – 32 hours total ­– which resulted in an additional $16 billion in charges."

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Sen. Hughes Set To File Pro-Life "Heartbeat Bill"

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Texas State Senator Bryan Hughes will file a bill this week, SB 8, called the Heartbeat Bill, which, if passed, would restrict abortion and protect unborn babies after a heartbeat is detected.

The Mineola Republican's office released the following explanation of the bill:

"The fetal heartbeat is a key medical predictor of whether an unborn child will reach live birth. A fetal heartbeat can be detected as early as six weeks. Current Texas law generally bans abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

This bill would prevent abortions from being performed or induced once a fetal heartbeat is detected unless there is a medical emergency as defined under Health and Safety Code Section 171.002(3)."

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Resident Files $1Billion Class-Action Lawsuit After Getting $9,300 Electric Bill

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A $1 billion class-action lawsuit has been filed against Texas wholesale electricity retailer Griddy Energy for allegedly charging exorbitant prices during last week's historic storm that left millions powerless in the freezing cold, reports ABC News.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Chambers County resident Lisa Khoury in Harris County on Monday, who claimed her electricity bill soared to $9,340 the week of the storm. According to the lawsuit, her average monthly bills typically range from $200 to $250.

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Trump Aide Pierson Decides Against Crowded 6th Dist. Special Election, Signals Future Run

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On the final day of filing for the 6th District congressional seat special election, former Trump communications director Katrina Pierson decided against a run for the open seat.

This, as 23 others,  11 Democrats and 13 Republicans, did take the plunge.

Pierson, widely reported to be a condidate, said Tuesday on Twitter she want found to sell to open seat, but signaled that she is open to running for Congress in 2022.

"I am humbled by the outpouring of support/encouragement of so many fellow Texans, Rep leaders & especially the Trump family! I have decided that I have a greater responsibility to #TakeBackTheHouse 

I’m not running in TX6, but I’m not closing the door on Congress - stay tuned!"

Some insiders are speculating that polling was not great for her in this race. If she had run, she would have faced former Health and U.S. Human Services Dept. chief of staff Brian Harrison, making an expected Trump endorsement of Pierson problematic.

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Four Arrested On Voter Fraud Charges

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A Justice of the Peace has been arrested and accused of election fraud, along with three other people, reports News4SanAntonio.

Medina County Justice of the Peace Tomas Ramirez was arrested Feb. 11 after a Bandera Grand Jury indicted him and three others two days prior.

Ramirez is facing one count of organized election fraud, one count of assisting voter voting ballot by mail and 17 counts of unlawful possession of a ballot or ballot envelope.

Leonor Rivas Garza, Eva Ann Martinez and Mary Balderrama were also arrested.

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Rep. Biedermann Talks Texit In Leander Meeting

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Rep. Kyle Biedermann R - Fredericksburg) is on a mission. He is crossing the state pushing his recently filed bill (HB 1359) which, if passed, would put a referendum on the November ballot that would ask voters to start a process of exploring the independence of Texas from the United States. 

He calls it "Texit," short for the exit of Texas, from the Union. (The name is similar to, and likely inspired by, Brexit, the recent exit of Great Britain from the European Union.)

At a public meeting of the Constitutional Club of Williamson County in Leander recently, Biedermann told nearly 80 members and guests that the bill would simply put the question before the people.

"It's not a bill to leave the Union. It's not a secession bill," he said. "This isn't 1865. It's for the legislature to allow the people to vote to allow Texas to become an independent country."

The Republican, who was first elected in 2016,  said questions of how military bases in the state would be allocated and how even the soldiers would feel about serving a new country of Texas would be sorted out with the federal government in negotiations.

He said he did not believe a modern-day secession will end in bloodshed of any kind.

"Nearly 140 countries have become independent since World War II in the world, only a small percentage did so with violence," he said.

He believes it is necessary to act soon to make it happen.

"It is one thing to talk about it; It's another thing to have the Texas Legislature look into whether it's feasible," he said.

Despite some good representation in Congress, he said, "We have no leverage with Washington." That lack of leverage, he said, is why this measure is necessary.

The bill, if it passes the House and the Senate, and is signed by Governor Abbott, would put the question on the ballot. Then if voters approve it, an exploratory process up to two years would determine if secession was even feasible, economically and politically. 

Only then would an actual secession measure be placed on the ballot by the legislature.

He said the state legislature, which meets every other year, would have to be the body tha approves the ballot question. In Texas, there is no constitutional way to place a referendum on the statewide ballot by petition, which often happens in cities and towns.

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All Covid-19 Restrictions End Next Wednesday In Texas, Abbott Announces

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Texas is lifting its mask mandate next Wednesday, Gov. Greg Abbott said today, making it the largest state to end an order intended to prevent the spread of the coronavirus that has killed more than 42,000 Texans.

The Republican governor has faced sharp criticism from his party over the mandate, which was imposed eight months ago, and other COVID-19 restrictions. It was only ever lightly enforced, even during the worst outbreaks of the pandemic.

Texas will also do away with limits on the number of diners that businesses can serve indoors, said Abbott, who made the announcement at a restaurant in Lubbock.

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Announcement Ending COVID-19 Restrictions "Pretty Soon" Says Gov. Abbott

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Gov. Greg Abbott says that Texas is looking at when it will be able to lift all statewide orders related to the coronavirus pandemic and that an announcement is forthcoming, reports ABC13 TV (Houston)

Some sources told us that an announcement could come as early as today.

Abbott made the comments at a Corpus Christi news conference where he was asked when the statewide mask mandate would end as Texans continue to get vaccinated. That requirement has been in effect since July.

"We're working right now on evaluating when we're gonna be able to remove all statewide orders, and we will be making announcements about that pretty soon," Abbott said, without giving a specific time frame.

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Trump Aide Katrina Pierson Planning Congressional Run

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As this blog reported Saturday, The Washington Times and other media are now confirming that former Trump Communications Director Katrina Pierson will seek the open congressional seat held by the late Rep. Ron Wright.

The Hill reported the news Sunday night, citing “five sources with knowledge of her planning,” that Pierson will file paperwork in the coming days. Wednesday is the final day of filing for the May 1 special election.

Pierson, a former Tea Party activist, has had “advanced conversations with a top Republican consulting firm” and expects to receive the backing of Trump himself, something insiers have confirmed to this blog as well.

In a text message to The Hill Sunday night, Pierson declined to directly say that she would run, but didn’t deny it, either.

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