Texas Lawmakers Eye Surplus For Tax Rebate, Edu Spending

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Texas ended up with a $30 billion budget surplus this year. How that extra money will be spent will be a big topic when the Texas Legislature meets in a couple of weeks. Top Republicans have already planned big tax rebates, but do have some education spending in mind.

“When you have this kind of money, you have to give it back to the taxpayers,” said Lt. Governor Dan Patrick in an address on the surplus.

(Full story HERE.)
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Texas Supreme Court Rules Against Dad Seeking To Prevent Transitioning Of Son In California

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Jeffrey Younger has lost his court case to prevent his ex-wife from taking their son to California, where he could be medically transitioned. 

Younger has been trying to stop this from happening for years, and has now reached the end of the line. He is prevented by the courts of Texas from protecting his boys from medical mutilation at the hands of their mother, who is a pediatrician. 

Younger has accused her of using the children to help advertise her "inclusive," "gender affirming" practice.

(Full story HERE
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Nearly 1,500 Bills Filed For January Legislative Session

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Two weeks ahead of the Texas’ 88th Legislative Session, nearly 1,500 bills have been filed by incoming and returning legislators.

In the last week, several new bills target school accountability, the electric grid and voting rights, among other issues.

(Full story HERE.)
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Edgewater Republican Files Bill To Strengthen Grid

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Sen. Bob Hall recently filed Senate Bill 330 to address the resiliency and reliability of the Texas electric grid.

During each session he has been in office, the Edgewood Republican has advocated for strengthening the resiliency of the grid and implementing measures to harden the grid against both natural and man-made threats.

As seen during Winter Storm Uri, the grid is vulnerable. The natural threat of the winter storm took the lives of over 200 people, had a direct/indirect economic impact of over $130 billion, and brought the state to within four minutes of a statewide grid failure, which would have meant weeks or even months without electricity.

(Full story HERE.)

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Bill Would Ban Texas Children From Social Media

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A North Texas lawmaker has put forward a bill that would ban children in the state from using social media.

Texas Republican State Rep. Jared Patterson has introduced HB 896 which would require social media users to be at least 18-years old in order to open a social media account.

"Once thought to be perfectly safe for users, social media access to minors has led to remarkable rises in self-harm, suicide, and mental health issues," Patterson said, likening social media to cigarette use before it was widely deemed unsafe in the 1960s.

(Full story HERE.)
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Abbott Fires Back At Biden, Media Criticism Of Migrant Busing

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Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday pushed back against the White House's criticism of him busing more migrants to Washington, D.C., over the weekend -- where they arrived outside Vice President Kamala Harris' home on Christmas Eve.

"The White House is full of a bunch of hypocrites, led by the Hypocrite-in-Chief .... Instead of their hypocritical complaints about Texas providing much-needed relief to our overrun and overwhelmed border communities, President Biden and Border Czar Harris need to step up and do their jobs to secure the border—something they continue failing to do," Renae Eze, a spokesperson for Abbott, said in a statement.

(Full story HERE.)
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Karnes County,Texas Sheriff Switches To Republican Party

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Karnes County Sheriff Dwayne Villanueva announced he has officially switched parties and is now a Republican.

Sheriff Villanueva said “I look forward to continuing the strong tradition of excellent law enforcement in Karnes County, which requires us to come together for a common cause and seek out leaders of integrity and merit.”

In a press statement, Republican Party of Texas Chairman Matt Rinaldi said “I am proud to welcome Sheriff Villanueva to the Republican Party. As Democrats increasingly abandon and cripple law enforcement, it is no wonder more people are turning to the Republican party.”

Karnes County is located southeast of San Antonio and has (as of 2020) a population of nearly 15,000.

(Full story HERE.)
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Former Texas Congressman Hurd Wants Homeland Security Chief Fired

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CNN hosts Don Lemon and Kaitlan Collins clashed with former Republican lawmaker Will Hurd on Monday while discussing the border crisis and the end to Title 42.

Hurd, who represented a Texas border district in Congress, said President Biden's border policy was worse than former President Trump's. 

"This crisis has escalated under him. There’s other ways to do expedited removal. You also have a Title 8 authority, and what a new secretary of Homeland Security should be coming in saying ‘Listen, we’re going to use Title 8 authority to the same level that we’re using Title 42.’"

Hurd also suggested Biden get rid of border security officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, because of a lack of "credibility."

(Full story HERE
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Washington Post: Paxton Requested "List of Those Who Had Sex Changes"

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Employees in the Texas Department of Public Safety were asked to provide a list of people who changed their sex on state documents in the past two years to the state attorney general’s office, according to The Washington Post.

The Post obtained through a public records request DPS documents from the agency that show employees discussing the attorney general’s office’s request. The records request was titled, “AG Request Sex Change Data” and “AG data request.”

(Full story HERE.)
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Texas Republicans To File Election Legislation

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Texas Republicans are prefiling bills aimed at creating an election police force similar to a unit deployed in Florida during the 2022 midterm elections.

The push for increased law enforcement involvement in Texas elections comes as GOP lawmakers are casting doubt on the outcome of Harris County's election results and District Attorney Kim Ogg probes for alleged criminal activity following issues with paper ballot availability and adjusted polling hours. Harris County leaders have defended the election's integrity.

(Full story HERE.)
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Abbott Seeks Investigation Of NGOs Over Immigration

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Wednesday asked his top law enforcement official to investigate nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) operating in the state over their role in assisting immigrants to cross the U.S.-Mexico border.

(Full story HERE.)
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