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I'm Stephanie Wolf with a brief look
at the latest news in Texas politics and

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policy from the Texas Tribune. The
second special session of the year got underway

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yesterday, and Texas lawmakers swiftly made
their first moves to end a month's long

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stalemate over property tax cuts. The
point of contention among top GOP state legislators

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has been how to distribute more than
twelve billion dollars in property tax cuts.

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For months, members of the two
chambers have struggled to come to an agreement

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on who should benefit more. How
Speaker Dade Pheelan and his fellow state representatives

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have remained steadfast and their proposal to
send the full twelve point three billion marked

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for tax relief to school districts so
they can lower their tax rates, a

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plan that has Governor Greg Abbott's support. Home and business owners in the state

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would see a decrease as well under
the House proposal, though the wealthiest will

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benefit the most. The chambers primary
tax writing committee unanimously approved the plan.

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Next it goes to the full House. Meanwhile, the Senate advanced its twelve

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point seven billion dollar tax cut package, passing it quickly through committee and the

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full chamber and their version. Senators
have proposed targeted tax breaks for homeowners and

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businesses, as well as money to
help school districts drop their rate. Senators

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would also like to see stricter revenue
caps for school districts. Lieutenant Governor Dan

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Patrick said he couldn't quote think of
a better property tax built. State Senator

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Roland Gutirez, a San Antonio Democrat, added on an amendment to give teachers

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supplemental pay for the upcoming twenty twenty
three twenty four academic year. It's unclear

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whether the House will sign on to
the Senate's proposal, though Patrick said he'd

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request a meeting with the House speaker
to broker a deal. It's also unknown

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whether Abbot will get on board with
the Senate's plan either. For weeks,

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Texans have endured a brutal heat wave, driving anxiety about the state's power grid

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and whether residence efforts to stay cool
amid triple digit temperatures would overstress it.

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But experts say a boom and local
solar energy in recent years is helping bolster

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the electrical system. This June heat
wave has led to record demand. On

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Tuesday, usage topped eighty one hundred
megawatts, Yet the state's grid operator has

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asked residence to reduce their power use
only one day so far during the crushing

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heat. Experts say the states diverse
energy sources and in particular, solar power,

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are helping avoid power shore falls.
About sixteen thousand, eight hundred megawatts

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of solar could be produced on the
state grid as of late May. That's

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compared to twenty six hundred and twenty
nineteen according to the system's operator, the

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Electric Reliability Council of Texas, also
known as Aircut. Solar is anticipated to

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be a key factor in grid reliability
going forward. A recent industry report predicts

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that Texas will produce nearly double the
solar output of California between twenty twenty four

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and twenty twenty eight. The Texas
Court of Criminal Appeals has rejected Rodney Reid's

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request for a new trial. Reid, a black man, has been on

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death row in Texas for more than
a quarter century for the nineteen ninety six

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murder of Stacey Stitz, a nineteen
year old white woman in Basstop County.

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He's said he's innocent, and his
case gained international attention in twenty nineteen as

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his execution date neared, the state's
highest criminal court stopped the execution. In

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the years since, Reid's attorneys have
brought forward new evidence and witnesses pointing to

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a different suspect, the young woman's
fiance. Both men have been accused of

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sexual assault. Reid has been indicted
but not convicted in other rape cases,

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and the fiance, Jimmy Finnell,
served a decade in prison for kidnapping and

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allegedly raping a woman while on duty
as a police officer. Reid, who

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has said he was having a consensual
affair with Stites at the time of her

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death, was tried buy an all
white jury. Read's attorneys condemned the Texas

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Court's Wednesday ruling and vowed to continue
to fight for his release. Even though

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the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied
a chance for a new trial, Red

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likely won't see an immediate execution date. That's because in April, the US

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Supreme Court cited with Reid in a
separate appeal that cleared the way for him

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to pursue DNA testing on evidence used
to convict him, including the murder weapon.

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Check for updates to any of these
stories at Texas Tribune dot org and

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follow the Brief podcast for daily news
updates wherever you get your podcasts. I'm

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Stephanie Wolf with the Texas Tribune.
You've been briefed. Today's Brief is brought

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to you by Texas twenty thirty six, building long term, data driven strategies

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to secure Texas's prosperity through our bicentennial
and beyond. More at Texas twenty thirty

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six dot org