WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.480 --> 00:00:05.040 This week's episode of the trip Cast is sponsored by 2 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:10.599 Water Grows. All Right, hello, and welcome to the Texas 3 00:00:10.599 --> 00:00:14.080 Tribune trip Cast for January twenty eighth, twenty twenty five. 4 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:17.239 I am Matthew Watkins, Editor in chief of the Texas Tribune. 5 00:00:17.320 --> 00:00:22.199 We are joined as usual by Eleanor Klibanoff, whose campaign 6 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:24.839 continues to change the name of the trib Cast to 7 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:25.760 the clib Cast. 8 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:27.719 I would say it's my campaign. I would say it's 9 00:00:27.719 --> 00:00:31.000 the people's campaign. You know, it's a one party, one 10 00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:32.240 platform issue, all right. 11 00:00:32.280 --> 00:00:36.759 Well, and one supporter too, one supporter. And we have 12 00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:40.200 James Barragon, whose weekend was just ruined by the announcement 13 00:00:40.399 --> 00:00:43.000 of the State of the State speech on Sunday. 14 00:00:43.079 --> 00:00:44.960 Oh, not ruined. I'm fine, all right. 15 00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:47.560 Well, I mean, if you like to work on your weekends, that's. 16 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:50.240 Look on the positive side, that's the day and a 17 00:00:50.280 --> 00:00:50.679 half to. 18 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:51.399 Enjoy, all right. 19 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:55.719 So today we will be endeavoring to convince James to 20 00:00:55.719 --> 00:00:59.200 get excited about water policy. But before that, we're going 21 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:02.600 to talk a little little bit about what's happened in 22 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:05.959 the news this week. We have, you know, talked in 23 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:10.719 previous episodes about you know, the obviously the Dustin Burrows's 24 00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:14.200 election to speaker, but also the campaign against him, one 25 00:01:14.200 --> 00:01:16.439 of which was around, you know, the effort to get 26 00:01:16.519 --> 00:01:19.439 rid of democratic committee chairs in the Texas House. It 27 00:01:19.480 --> 00:01:23.200 appears as though the hardline conservatives pushing for that may 28 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:26.239 have lost the speakers race, but at least one on 29 00:01:26.359 --> 00:01:30.560 this issue that they've been pursuing for multiple legislative sessions. 30 00:01:30.680 --> 00:01:33.120 James tell us a little bit about what happened with 31 00:01:33.319 --> 00:01:35.159 the rules recently. 32 00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:37.280 Well, yeah, surprising that you put it that way, because 33 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:40.079 I think if you ask them, they would not see 34 00:01:40.079 --> 00:01:44.120 themselves as big winners. In fact, they said that Democrats 35 00:01:44.159 --> 00:01:47.760 have more power, which I think realistically and like objectively, 36 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:50.879 that is not true. In the rules, it says that 37 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:55.920 the majority party will hold committee chairmanships and the minority 38 00:01:55.920 --> 00:02:00.560 party will have vice chairmanships, so that effectively strips Democrats 39 00:02:00.560 --> 00:02:04.840 from being allowed to run committees, which is exactly what 40 00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:07.159 they wanted. Now, I think we have to be intellectually 41 00:02:07.159 --> 00:02:09.599 honest about this that it's one of the things that 42 00:02:09.639 --> 00:02:12.039 they wanted. It's the big thing that they rallied around, 43 00:02:12.199 --> 00:02:13.680 But there are a bunch of other things that those 44 00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:16.599 hardline conservatives wanted that they did not get, which is 45 00:02:16.680 --> 00:02:19.960 what they are sort of yelling about. And they're what 46 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:24.919 they're making a big fuss about. Democrats and the Speaker. 47 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:30.039 Burrows's Republican coalition are saying, hey, like, we gave you 48 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:33.960 guys exactly what you wanted. The Democrat chairs are gone, 49 00:02:35.479 --> 00:02:38.960 and the hardline Conservatives are saying, well, that's just one thing. 50 00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:42.240 And I've just pulled up the contract with Texas, which 51 00:02:42.280 --> 00:02:46.680 is what they basically are saying, that they are following. 52 00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:48.840 The contract to Texas. Is what the kind of more. 53 00:02:48.840 --> 00:02:51.520 It's like the pledge that they came up with for 54 00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:55.560 the Conservatives, yeah, which Cook had signed and said, Cook 55 00:02:55.840 --> 00:02:58.639 being David Cook of Mansfield, the other candidate for speaker 56 00:02:58.680 --> 00:03:02.120 who lost obviously. But you know, just going down the 57 00:03:02.120 --> 00:03:06.599 list here, you only still support for speakership from Republican members. 58 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:10.199 Obviously neither of them did that. And the practice of 59 00:03:10.240 --> 00:03:13.159 awarding Democrats with committee chairmanship, that's high, that's number two, 60 00:03:13.719 --> 00:03:17.120 and Burrows has done that. And sure all GOP legislative 61 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:21.000 priorities receive a floor vote before any Democrat bills that 62 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:24.400 has not been codified in the rules. Replace the current 63 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:28.080 liberal these are their words. Liberal parliamentarians with staff committed 64 00:03:28.120 --> 00:03:30.919 to only offering advice on adherence to House rules, not 65 00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:36.159 advancing their personal ideology. They're referring to Hugh Brady, a 66 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:39.599 Democrat who was a parliamentarian and he is gone. Now 67 00:03:39.719 --> 00:03:42.159 there is only one parliamentarian. 68 00:03:41.560 --> 00:03:43.560 Which is the parliamentarian. For people who don't. 69 00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:47.439 Know, parliamentariy basically interprets the rules and make sure the 70 00:03:47.800 --> 00:03:52.360 make sure makes sure that the whatever body it is 71 00:03:52.360 --> 00:03:55.319 is running according to the rules. And so there's a 72 00:03:55.319 --> 00:03:57.199 whole list of these, but you can see that there 73 00:03:57.319 --> 00:04:00.719 is like differences here right the The next one that 74 00:04:00.759 --> 00:04:02.639 I see is limiting the speaker to two terms to 75 00:04:02.680 --> 00:04:05.919 reduce their power over individual members. That also is not 76 00:04:06.039 --> 00:04:09.319 in the rules. And so what the hardliners wanted to 77 00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:11.800 do this week and last week and the rules is 78 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:14.439 to put these things in to codify them, to say 79 00:04:14.639 --> 00:04:17.319 you were going to commit to the entire contract with Texas. 80 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:19.959 The thing is that Burrows never committed to those things, 81 00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:23.680 and so they can say, but this is the contract 82 00:04:23.720 --> 00:04:26.480 that we had committed to. Burrows never committed to. So 83 00:04:26.519 --> 00:04:30.240 there's like truth in both spaces. But I think overall 84 00:04:30.279 --> 00:04:32.199 to your initial question is like, what are we going 85 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:34.399 to see. I think we have to be again intellectually 86 00:04:34.439 --> 00:04:37.120 honest and say there's going to be a more conservative 87 00:04:37.160 --> 00:04:39.000 session no matter which way you slice it. 88 00:04:39.079 --> 00:04:42.399 Well, James, I mean we're sort of a broken record 89 00:04:42.439 --> 00:04:46.000 on this, but you have continuously made the point on 90 00:04:46.040 --> 00:04:50.040 this podcast that this is less about ideal ideology and 91 00:04:50.079 --> 00:04:53.560 more about power, right, And you know, I think we 92 00:04:53.639 --> 00:04:57.439 have to ask the question, is this situation where if 93 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:00.519 I wonder if Burrows is asking this question too, Like, 94 00:05:00.600 --> 00:05:03.160 if he gives this group what they want on one thing, 95 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:05.839 are they just going to start then saying I want 96 00:05:05.879 --> 00:05:08.680 this instead, you know? And if the point is to 97 00:05:08.920 --> 00:05:12.120 be kind of going after this speaker and they seem 98 00:05:12.199 --> 00:05:14.839 kind of committed to doing that throughout this legislative session, 99 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:21.000 is is this a sort of impossible battle to win 100 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:23.600 in terms of getting the support and getting people to say, 101 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:26.439 you know, be happy with his speakership this session? 102 00:05:26.680 --> 00:05:26.879 Right? 103 00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:29.759 I am not in Burrows' head, so I wouldn't know. 104 00:05:29.879 --> 00:05:32.319 But what we've seen with previous speakers is they said 105 00:05:32.600 --> 00:05:35.680 Joe Strauss is too liberal and he only gives us 106 00:05:35.680 --> 00:05:37.879 a little bit of red meat so that some members 107 00:05:37.879 --> 00:05:39.839 can go back to their districts and say they passed 108 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:42.240 conservative legislation and then the rest of us get shut out. 109 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:45.680 So then Straus steps down. Bonnin comes in, he's clearly 110 00:05:45.720 --> 00:05:49.519 a more conservative speaker. He goes further to the right, 111 00:05:49.800 --> 00:05:52.120 and then they say this guy's not conservative enough. Then 112 00:05:52.160 --> 00:05:55.639 he goes down. Feelim comes in, he's more conservative, passes 113 00:05:55.680 --> 00:05:59.079 more conservative legislation and they say he is not conservative enough. 114 00:06:00.360 --> 00:06:03.360 Comes in and they're saying he's not conservative enough. Each 115 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:06.160 of these guys has gone consistently more and more conservative, 116 00:06:06.360 --> 00:06:10.160 and it's just never enough for the hard right. That 117 00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:12.519 is their prerogative and that is what they say their 118 00:06:12.600 --> 00:06:16.000 voters come to represent. But they will keep fighting that 119 00:06:16.040 --> 00:06:18.040 fight until the cows come home. 120 00:06:18.079 --> 00:06:20.439 I think, well, it's also interesting, as you have listed 121 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:24.439 this kind of progression of more conservative speakers, that faction 122 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:27.040 that's been unhappy with that leadership in the hard right 123 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:29.319 has grown during that time as well. You know, so 124 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:31.600 kind of an interesting dynamic there what's gone. 125 00:06:31.480 --> 00:06:34.399 Through waves, hasn't it like the Freedom Caucus was, you know, 126 00:06:34.519 --> 00:06:39.160 they they certainly were very active in twenty seventeen, and 127 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:42.199 then they kind of waned, I think thanks to Speaker 128 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:47.120 Bondon who really managed the Chamber and the inter chamber relationships. Well, 129 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:49.720 and then they've popped back up. I don't know. I 130 00:06:49.759 --> 00:06:52.480 think it's come and gone. But certainly this year there 131 00:06:52.519 --> 00:06:56.120 are more people, more lawmakers aligned with that view. Okay, 132 00:06:56.160 --> 00:06:57.160 that's for multiple reasons. 133 00:06:57.240 --> 00:07:01.439 Quickly, before we move on what impact on governing? Does 134 00:07:02.199 --> 00:07:06.160 not having democratic chairs have this legislative session? 135 00:07:06.199 --> 00:07:06.560 If any? 136 00:07:07.920 --> 00:07:13.839 I mean, I think the conservatives are right. Democrats leading 137 00:07:15.079 --> 00:07:20.240 committees obviously helps Democrats. You think about things, and I've 138 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:22.199 come up with a few examples. You think about in 139 00:07:22.199 --> 00:07:25.680 twenty twenty one, Herald Dunton leading public education in the 140 00:07:25.680 --> 00:07:28.800 twenty twenty one second special Session, he refused to advance 141 00:07:28.920 --> 00:07:32.879 legislation that restricted transgender student athletes, and there was a 142 00:07:32.920 --> 00:07:34.959 lot of pressure coming from the Lieutenant governor to pass that. 143 00:07:34.959 --> 00:07:37.800 That was SB two in that special session, clearly a 144 00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:40.680 priority bill. That bill got killed in twenty twenty one. 145 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:44.360 You think about Chairman Pancho Navarrees in twenty nineteen saying 146 00:07:44.439 --> 00:07:47.600 there wouldn't be a hearing on open Caerry legislation because 147 00:07:47.959 --> 00:07:52.319 some gun rights activists had gone and bothered lawmakers at 148 00:07:52.360 --> 00:07:55.879 their homes, which is pretty reprehensible, but Pancho says, no 149 00:07:55.959 --> 00:07:59.759 more of that and it's done. Obviously, that legislation later passed, 150 00:08:00.079 --> 00:08:03.920 but it was blocked. You think of people like Missus 151 00:08:03.920 --> 00:08:06.399 t and Fronie Thompson and Houston in twenty nineteen leading 152 00:08:06.439 --> 00:08:11.959 public at public education, I'm sorry, public health, and so 153 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:14.120 then the abortional legislation stops going to public health and 154 00:08:14.120 --> 00:08:16.360 starts going to the state affairs. I mean, there clearly 155 00:08:16.439 --> 00:08:19.519 is a stopper, and this is the way representative government works, right, 156 00:08:20.279 --> 00:08:22.879 so I think there will be an impact. I think 157 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:27.360 to ignore these concerns that the Conservatives are saying is 158 00:08:27.480 --> 00:08:30.920 to not be honest about this. But it's also fair 159 00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:33.159 to say that this is representative government and just because 160 00:08:33.159 --> 00:08:36.399 they're the minority government doesn't mean that they should be 161 00:08:36.399 --> 00:08:38.480 completely shut out, which is I think what Borrows is 162 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:40.639 trying to get out with these vice chairs and these 163 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:44.240 sub committees, which will have to wait and see what 164 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:49.519 impact they actually have. But the Conservatives are obviously concerned 165 00:08:49.519 --> 00:08:53.039 about that because they think that's a run around. No 166 00:08:53.120 --> 00:08:54.080 charite for Democrats. 167 00:08:54.159 --> 00:08:57.000 Yeah, ultimately, I mean, when you're a committee chair, you 168 00:08:57.039 --> 00:08:59.279 know every bill has to go through a committee in 169 00:08:59.320 --> 00:09:01.320 the House for it reaches the full floor. When your 170 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:03.879 committee chair you can control what comes up for a hearing. 171 00:09:04.200 --> 00:09:06.799 A lot of bills get rewritten in committee, so there 172 00:09:06.879 --> 00:09:09.720 is a considerable amount of power there for sure. All Right, 173 00:09:09.759 --> 00:09:13.519 I want to talk next about both chambers filing their 174 00:09:14.519 --> 00:09:16.679 baseline budgets for the legislative session. 175 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:18.840 This is Matthew's favorite day of the year. 176 00:09:18.919 --> 00:09:22.840 I do you know again, the budget the most important 177 00:09:22.840 --> 00:09:25.240 bill of the session every year, even though it maybe 178 00:09:25.279 --> 00:09:27.279 doesn't cause as much excitement as a lot of the 179 00:09:27.320 --> 00:09:29.639 other ones. Eleanor what were the highlights that you saw? 180 00:09:29.879 --> 00:09:31.919 Well, I will say and just a brief anecdote to 181 00:09:31.960 --> 00:09:35.000 get inside the mind of Matthew Watkins. Two years ago 182 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:38.080 when we were at this point, I remember our former 183 00:09:38.120 --> 00:09:40.440 colleague Karen Brooks Harper came to me and was like, 184 00:09:40.759 --> 00:09:43.000 Matthew has asked me to cover the budget. And I 185 00:09:43.080 --> 00:09:45.559 was like, it's like when a cat brings you a 186 00:09:45.639 --> 00:09:49.200 mouse as a present and you're like, thank you, I 187 00:09:49.240 --> 00:09:52.039 don't want that, but I know it came with love. 188 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:54.759 You love the budget. Karen actually does love the budget. 189 00:09:54.960 --> 00:09:58.679 Also a nerd, I would say, you know, the budget 190 00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:01.159 is the only thing the Texas Ledges has to pass. 191 00:10:01.240 --> 00:10:03.799 They could pass that, they could go home it's an idea. 192 00:10:04.039 --> 00:10:07.399 I think they should consider it. But assuming they're not 193 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:09.320 going to do that. I mean, the budget has, like 194 00:10:09.399 --> 00:10:11.600 all the high priority items, I think a lot of 195 00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:15.519 it was not a huge surprise. They are, as how 196 00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:20.240 Speaker Boroughs said, substantially identical between the House and the Senate. Obviously, 197 00:10:20.279 --> 00:10:24.360 the working out the details is what you know, will 198 00:10:24.360 --> 00:10:26.960 take up most of the session. I think the big 199 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:28.799 thing we were seeing is, you know, a big increase 200 00:10:28.840 --> 00:10:32.399 in funding for vouchers. You know, this has obviously been 201 00:10:32.440 --> 00:10:35.159 a Conservative priority for a long time. Seems like they've 202 00:10:35.159 --> 00:10:37.720 got the votes this session, and this increase in funding 203 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:40.039 definitely makes it seem like, you know, they don't want 204 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:41.879 to take a half step into vouchers, they want to 205 00:10:42.039 --> 00:10:45.679 run into that pretty significantly. And then also as sort 206 00:10:45.720 --> 00:10:50.600 of promised funding increases for public education to go into 207 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:55.120 that increases for teachers rural teachers, which we should say 208 00:10:55.120 --> 00:10:58.480 the teacher groups feel like is not is still not enough. 209 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:02.279 So figure out how to balance those two things. The 210 00:11:02.279 --> 00:11:04.159 one thing I will say, in my universe, in the 211 00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:06.799 health world, that's like a very big deal, a very 212 00:11:06.960 --> 00:11:10.240 small line item comparably to some of these big numbers. 213 00:11:10.679 --> 00:11:13.919 But the Texas Health and Human Services Commission has asked 214 00:11:13.919 --> 00:11:18.200 for three hundred million dollars to improve their Medicaid enrollment system, 215 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:21.879 which is in the health world a huge deal. We've 216 00:11:21.879 --> 00:11:25.039 written a decent amount about that, and so that made 217 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:27.279 it into both budgets, and I think people are pretty 218 00:11:27.320 --> 00:11:29.200 optimistic that that's going to happen. 219 00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:30.039 Yeah, you know. 220 00:11:30.840 --> 00:11:33.720 I think two things you look for in those base budgets, 221 00:11:33.720 --> 00:11:36.320 which can very much change and will change over the 222 00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:39.679 coming months, are where this is there agreement right, Where 223 00:11:39.679 --> 00:11:41.759 do they have similar amounts of money, Where are their 224 00:11:41.799 --> 00:11:45.519 difference is, and how does that change compared to previous years. 225 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:48.480 So we saw both both chambers two point five billion 226 00:11:48.519 --> 00:11:52.000 dollars to spend on broadband expansion in the state, two 227 00:11:52.039 --> 00:11:54.799 point five billion dollars to spend on water infrastructure we'll 228 00:11:54.799 --> 00:11:59.120 talk more about that later, five billion dollars on the grid, 229 00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:02.919 three point five billion dollars to go toward property taxes, 230 00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:05.960 and as you mentioned, a billion dollars for school vouchers, 231 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:09.480 which is double what was in the budget last session 232 00:12:09.559 --> 00:12:13.320 five hundred million dollars. We also saw a voucher bill 233 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:17.440 get filed in the Senate that kind of laid out 234 00:12:17.480 --> 00:12:19.799 at least the Senates proposal for what that would be. Again, 235 00:12:19.840 --> 00:12:22.600 we're talking about spending double the amount of money, the 236 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:26.879 proposal being ten thousand dollars to give you know, basically 237 00:12:28.039 --> 00:12:30.759 parents who want to send their kids to private school, 238 00:12:31.480 --> 00:12:34.559 maybe around two thousand dollars for parents who are going 239 00:12:34.600 --> 00:12:37.919 to homeschool their kids, things like that. They would prioritize 240 00:12:38.039 --> 00:12:42.320 low income children and kids with disabilities in that range. 241 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:46.759 When you talk about ten thousand dollars per student, you're 242 00:12:46.759 --> 00:12:50.320 talking about, you know, funding for around one hundred thousand 243 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:53.639 students in that realm. Worth noting, there's an estimated two 244 00:12:53.759 --> 00:12:58.399 hundred and ninety thousand private school students in Texas right now. 245 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:01.759 So even though it is a a significant increase in 246 00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:04.360 what they wanted to spend last year, it's still not 247 00:13:04.559 --> 00:13:07.679 enough to cover the students who are already in Texas 248 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:10.000 public schools. So I think one question that will come 249 00:13:10.080 --> 00:13:12.600 up if that is indeed how much they end up spending, 250 00:13:12.759 --> 00:13:15.799 is will there then be immediate demand to spend more 251 00:13:15.879 --> 00:13:17.320 in upcoming sessions from there? 252 00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:21.159 Yeah, I think that's definitely. Like, I mean, obviously, through 253 00:13:21.240 --> 00:13:24.759 as we've talked about previous episodes like Strategic Winning of 254 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:29.080 certain seats, Like these policies have the numbers. It seems 255 00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:31.080 like it seems like Voucher's is going to happen this session. 256 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:33.440 That doesn't mean that, Like the way the bill is 257 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:36.440 written today is like everyone agrees, we all shake hands, and. 258 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:36.879 We go home. 259 00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:39.440 Like there's a lot of this to sort out, and 260 00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:45.159 you know, Texas legislators are not overly fond of spending money, 261 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:47.039 so you know, the more expensive this starts to look, 262 00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:49.200 obviously it's still going to get the support, but there 263 00:13:49.240 --> 00:13:49.879 might be sort. 264 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:51.720 Of more guards on the borders, and they're very happy. 265 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:53.639 Actually there's a lot of things they want to spend 266 00:13:53.639 --> 00:13:53.960 money on. 267 00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:58.279 But I think that the agreement on the one billion 268 00:13:58.320 --> 00:14:00.679 dollars is huge too. I was just trying to look 269 00:14:00.759 --> 00:14:06.080 up here the tweet from the governor where he sort 270 00:14:06.120 --> 00:14:09.360 of tweeted out approvingly of the billion dollar budget, and 271 00:14:09.480 --> 00:14:11.919 he said something like, I can't find the tweet right now, 272 00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:14.039 but like, you know, this is a great start, and 273 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:16.080 I think the indication that the Senate and the House 274 00:14:16.200 --> 00:14:19.080 are both out of billion dollars shows you that the 275 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:23.000 governor is also involved in sort of the settling on 276 00:14:23.120 --> 00:14:26.039 that number. So I'm not sure that is actually going 277 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:26.399 to change. 278 00:14:26.440 --> 00:14:28.480 Yeah, how does this bode for I mean there is 279 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:31.840 I took notice about how much agreement there was on 280 00:14:31.879 --> 00:14:34.279 these big ticket items. How much does this bode for 281 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:37.600 the ability of the Speaker and the Lieutenant Governor to 282 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:39.440 get along this legislative session. 283 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:41.360 Well, go for it. 284 00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:45.799 I found it interesting. Obviously, Lieutenant Governor Patrick was very 285 00:14:45.879 --> 00:14:49.440 critical or perhaps not critical. Yeah, I mean he was 286 00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:52.080 critical at Burroughs, he was critical at Burrows, and he 287 00:14:52.279 --> 00:14:55.720 was clearly very supportive of Cook saying that he was 288 00:14:55.799 --> 00:14:59.600 the House GOP Caucus nominee. Right, But in the aftermath 289 00:14:59.639 --> 00:15:03.039 of the action, I've sort of seen like him leaving 290 00:15:03.159 --> 00:15:06.519 the door open and saying like Burrows will have the 291 00:15:06.519 --> 00:15:08.639 opportunity to prove that he is going to be the 292 00:15:08.639 --> 00:15:14.120 most conservative speaker. And Burrows, i think, compared to Feelin, 293 00:15:15.159 --> 00:15:19.480 is like a player, and he is like he knows 294 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:21.679 the chamber, he knows the inter chamber relationships. He's been 295 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:24.200 involved in a lot of these negotiations. I think he's 296 00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:27.039 going to be a lot more forceful and perhaps tactful 297 00:15:27.080 --> 00:15:31.919 and how he deals both handling interchamber inter chamber battles 298 00:15:31.960 --> 00:15:36.360 and intra chamber battles, So I'm kind of curious to 299 00:15:36.360 --> 00:15:38.799 see how that plays out. The litank Nuver has kind 300 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:41.399 of backed off a little bit, I think yeah. 301 00:15:41.399 --> 00:15:43.519 And also, I mean last session, obviously there was a 302 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:47.519 great discord between perhaps the three, the big three, and 303 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:52.120 you know, I think Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has shown 304 00:15:52.120 --> 00:15:56.200 a willingness to sort of, you know, hold out and 305 00:15:56.240 --> 00:15:59.440 not necessarily play nice with the other chamber. But also, 306 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:02.240 as he has noted, you know, his chamber has repeatedly 307 00:16:02.279 --> 00:16:04.519 passed a lot of these top priority legislations and a 308 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:07.679 top parity legislation and it gets stalled out in the House. 309 00:16:07.720 --> 00:16:10.399 And so you know, is it perhaps in his best 310 00:16:10.399 --> 00:16:13.600 interest to try to play nice with the House speaker 311 00:16:13.879 --> 00:16:16.360 when there is widespread agreement on a lot of this. 312 00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:18.159 I just would say yes. And looking ahead, State of 313 00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:20.679 the State address is on Sunday. As you previously mentioned, 314 00:16:20.919 --> 00:16:23.159 the Governor is going to come out with his emergency items. 315 00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:25.600 Lieutenant Governor Patrick has said, we've got to go, we've 316 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:29.799 got to get moving on these things. And the House 317 00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:32.879 is known typically for rolling a little bit slower, rolling 318 00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:35.519 a little bit slower, and so it'll be curious to 319 00:16:35.559 --> 00:16:37.679 see once the Senate because I have no doubt that 320 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:40.039 the Senate will hit the ground running and get going 321 00:16:40.120 --> 00:16:42.240 on a bunch of these things. How quickly the House 322 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:45.639 will move, And I think if the House doesn't move 323 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:49.000 as quickly as the Lieutenant Governor wants it, then you 324 00:16:49.080 --> 00:16:51.279 might see some of this tension start to build up. 325 00:16:51.399 --> 00:16:53.879 Yeah, I mean, I think it's probably safe to assume 326 00:16:54.039 --> 00:16:57.519 that school vouchers will be an emergency item which will 327 00:16:57.559 --> 00:17:01.320 allow the legislature to move more quickly. The I believe 328 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:03.799 as we are recording this, the Senate is having a 329 00:17:03.879 --> 00:17:09.240 hearing on the bill, and I you know, once that 330 00:17:09.720 --> 00:17:12.000 speech happens on Friday and I mean Sunday and it 331 00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:15.519 is declared an emergency item, the Senate I would expect, 332 00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:19.160 will move, you know, in early February to pass that bill. 333 00:17:19.319 --> 00:17:21.880 So we could be in a situation where, you know, 334 00:17:21.960 --> 00:17:27.680 this this aspect of the legislature is decided quite quickly. 335 00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:30.920 So James, as already mentioned, on Sunday, you will be 336 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:33.680 doing your favorite Sunday activity of covering. 337 00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:37.039 You were Lord's Days people. 338 00:17:37.319 --> 00:17:38.519 You are jubilant. 339 00:17:39.400 --> 00:17:41.720 What else do you expect from that? What are you 340 00:17:41.759 --> 00:17:42.240 watching for? 341 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:45.759 I'm curious to see what we do with border stuff. Obviously, 342 00:17:47.160 --> 00:17:50.200 Republicans have a partner now in the federal government, but 343 00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:53.200 there's still a lot of money dedicated in the budget 344 00:17:53.920 --> 00:17:57.079 for border security and immigration enforcement, so I wonder what 345 00:17:57.160 --> 00:18:00.640 will happen there. I'm also curious there's always been this 346 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:04.799 ongoing issue of bail reform and I think election integrity. 347 00:18:05.079 --> 00:18:07.200 I don't have a whole lot of insight into the governor, 348 00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:11.559 but yeah, I'm curious about those issues because they've been 349 00:18:11.599 --> 00:18:15.839 things that he's been very supportive of in the past. 350 00:18:17.240 --> 00:18:19.599 But yeah, I'm kind of curious because there's been so 351 00:18:19.799 --> 00:18:24.400 much focus on vouchers that I wonder what else he's 352 00:18:24.440 --> 00:18:28.079 sort of been thinking about. And also, one more thing, 353 00:18:29.160 --> 00:18:32.680 we talk about this sort of line that the governor 354 00:18:32.799 --> 00:18:35.400 walks between, you know, traditional Republicans who are more business 355 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:37.359 friendly and think about things like infrastructure, which I know 356 00:18:37.400 --> 00:18:40.359 we're going to talk about next, and the social conservatives 357 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:44.720 who want to fight a lot about LGBT rights and 358 00:18:45.359 --> 00:18:48.240 abortion and all these things. Right, So I wonder what 359 00:18:48.359 --> 00:18:53.119 he will signal in sort of his attempt to walk 360 00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:53.519 that line. 361 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:56.920 Well, speaking of wanting to know what people are thinking, 362 00:18:57.640 --> 00:19:00.559 we would also like to know what our audience is thinking. 363 00:19:00.599 --> 00:19:05.160 We were interested in possibly answering some questions or topic 364 00:19:05.319 --> 00:19:08.519 discussing topics that people send in. So if you have 365 00:19:09.559 --> 00:19:12.759 any comments, questions, thoughts for the trip cast, things you'd 366 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:15.079 like us to discuss, shoot us an email trip Cast 367 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:18.279 at Texastribune dot org. If you happen to be the 368 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:21.039 governor and you're listening, you know you were also welcome. 369 00:19:21.240 --> 00:19:23.720 You are welcome in boxes invited too. 370 00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:24.119 Yeah. 371 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:26.519 In fact, we would give you the you know, the 372 00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:27.480 welcome of the century. 373 00:19:27.599 --> 00:19:30.279 Yeah, but you also don't have to be the governor, 374 00:19:30.680 --> 00:19:33.759 so so right in all right, Well, we are going 375 00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:36.240 to take a quick break to hear from our sponsors. 376 00:19:36.279 --> 00:19:37.240 Eleanor is going. 377 00:19:37.079 --> 00:19:39.480 To hop off because she has another speaking engagement, but 378 00:19:39.519 --> 00:19:42.920 we're going to talk about water after that. See you later, Eleanor, 379 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:48.000 Thank you so much. Water grows our food economy and future. 380 00:19:48.279 --> 00:19:51.559 Discover how Texas farmers make strides to make water last 381 00:19:51.640 --> 00:19:54.880 for Texans now and for generations to come more at 382 00:19:54.960 --> 00:20:00.000 Water Grows dot Org. Okay, Texas summers might seem hot 383 00:20:00.039 --> 00:20:02.799 and dry now, but the worst it was even worse 384 00:20:02.839 --> 00:20:05.799 in the nineteen fifties. Between nineteen forty nine and nineteen 385 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:09.680 fifty seven, Texas received between thirty percent and fifty percent 386 00:20:09.960 --> 00:20:14.519 less rainfall as during normal years. The drought wiped out 387 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:17.319 half of the state's farming industry. More than a thousand 388 00:20:17.319 --> 00:20:20.680 cities and communities had to implement water use restriction restrictions 389 00:20:20.759 --> 00:20:24.240 during that time. It's now referred to as the drought 390 00:20:24.319 --> 00:20:28.000 of record in Texas, and Texas uses that time as 391 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:32.119 a benchmark to measure the sufficiency of its water infrastructure 392 00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:36.680 moving forward. Jeremy Maser, who is our guest right now, 393 00:20:36.759 --> 00:20:40.359 director of Natural Resources and Infrastructure Policy at the Texas 394 00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:45.279 twenty thirty six think tank, recently assessed that readiness and 395 00:20:45.400 --> 00:20:49.480 the results were not encouraging, at least from my eye. 396 00:20:50.119 --> 00:20:52.559 Jeremy is our guest. Welcome, Thank you for joining us. 397 00:20:52.680 --> 00:20:55.000 Matthew James, thank you so much for having me here. 398 00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:56.720 It's great to be here this morning. 399 00:20:56.680 --> 00:21:00.359 Right, so great to have you. Let's talk about this 400 00:21:01.240 --> 00:21:05.119 nineteen fifties type drought situation, because you wrote a report 401 00:21:05.160 --> 00:21:08.480