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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. This
year's first special session came to a close

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yesterday. The Senate of the eighty
eighth Legislature first call Session expands adjourn siney

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dye. It ended with no new
laws made and the two chambers still at

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an impasse over property taxes. Republican
Governor Greg Abbott called a second special session

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about as soon as the first ended, with the sole focus on the issue

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of property taxes and a statement.
Abbot remained adamant that lawmakers should provide tax

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relief through something known as compression,
a method that sends state funds to school

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districts to help them lower their tax
rates. On day one of the first

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special session, state representatives quickly approved
their version of property tax cuts, which

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included Abbot's compression plan, and then
left the Capital, basically telling the Senate

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to take it or leave it.
Senators instead passed several versions of their own

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plan, which would raise the homestead
exemption, directing some of the tax cuts

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to homeowners. They tried to entice
House members back to the Capital to consider

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their proposal or at least get the
governor to come around to their tax cut

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priorities. It didn't work. Both
chambers returned this morning. Abbot said he

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would continue to call special sessions until
he sees property tax legislation on his desk.

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A string of recent prison deaths is
raising questions about conditions in the state

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facilities amid soaring temperatures in Texas.
The Texas Tribune analyzed prison death reports and

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weather data and found at at least
five incarcerated individuals have died due to reported

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heart attack or cardiac arrest since mid
June. They were in uncooled prisons,

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where the area's outdoor heat indexes were
above a hundred degrees. Additionally, at

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least four other people incarcerated in hot
prisons died from undetermined causes. A spokesperson

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for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
told the Tribune that calling these deaths heat

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related before an investigation has been concluded
would be quote inaccurate, But relatives of

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the deceased. Prison rights advocates and
some lawmakers blame the deaths on crushing heat

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in Texas prisons, and they say
the state has been unwilling to do anything

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about it. More than two thirds
of the state's one hundred prisons lack air

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conditioning and most living areas. The
heat has killed prisoners, and the state

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has paid out millions of dollars in
wrongful death in civil rights lawsuits over the

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last decade. The state Criminal Justice
Department had begun implementing heat mitigation efforts in

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recent years, like providing personal fans
access to cold showers or time, and

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air conditioned areas for prisoners, and
advocates say those policies are rarely followed.

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In this recent legislative session, state
lawmakers chose again to not allocate money toward

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installing AC in Texas prisons despite a
thirty two point seven billion dollars surplus.

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Record breaking heat is becoming the new
normal in Texas due to climate change.

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This month, the state has seen
weeks of one hundred degree temperatures from the

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Mexico border up to the Dallas Fort
Worth area. Visit Texas Tribune dot org

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for our analysis of temperature data across
the state and what regions are seeing the

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hottest tempts. Federal prosecutors have filed
charges against five more people in connection with

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what officials have described as the country's
deadliest human smuggling event. A year ago,

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fifty three migrants were found dead inside
a sweltering tractor trailer in San Antonio.

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Eight of them were children and one
was a pregnant woman. The ac

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was broken in the vehicle and there
was no water. The majority of the

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victims were from Mexico, others came
from Guatemala and Honduras. In the indictment,

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prosecutors named four suspects, who they
say are Mexican nationals and range an

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age from thirty to fifty three.
Riley Cova, Rubius Ponce, Felipe or

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Dina Torres, Louise Alberto Rivera Leal, and Armando Gonzalez Ortega. Prosecutors alleged

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that the suspects took part in a
scheme to smuggle the migrants who died in

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the process. A fifth suspects name
was redacted because that person had not yet

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been arrested. Officials had already charged
seven other people, including the alleged driver

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of the eighteen wheeler. If convicted, each fases a maximum penalty of life

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in prison, according to the Department
of Justice. Check for updates to any

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of these stories at Texas Tribune dot
org and Follow the Brief podcast for daily

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news updates wherever you get your podcast. I'm Stephanie Wolf with the Texas Tribune.

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