1 00:00:02,680 --> 00:00:05,559 Speaker 1: Today's episode of the trib Cast is sponsored by the 2 00:00:05,599 --> 00:00:10,839 Safer Texas Alliance, protecting American consumers together the Texas Managed 3 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:15,439 Care Alliance and the Lone Star Economic Alliance. Welcome to 4 00:00:15,439 --> 00:00:19,760 the Texas Tribunes Tribcast. I'm Eleanor Klibanoff Women's health reporter, 5 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:23,120 joined as always by my co host, editor in chief, 6 00:00:23,519 --> 00:00:27,640 Matthew Watkins, who is once again in a little screen Matthew, 7 00:00:27,679 --> 00:00:28,160 where are you? 8 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:32,719 Speaker 2: I am in New Orleans for a work conference. I'm 9 00:00:32,719 --> 00:00:36,840 in the hotel monte Leone, which I learned yesterday on 10 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:40,960 the quick little thing that plays on Loop when you 11 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:45,159 turn on your TV was a favorite haunt of such 12 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:50,320 luminary lights as Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Richard Ford and 13 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:52,640 you know, I think they're gonna add my name to 14 00:00:52,679 --> 00:00:55,920 the plaque absolutely soon as I leave, so looking forward 15 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:56,200 to that. 16 00:00:56,799 --> 00:00:59,479 Speaker 1: I feel like every hotel in New Orleans, but also 17 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:02,600 sort of every where has like those names as someone 18 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:04,159 who stayed there, I'm like, do they these people were 19 00:01:04,159 --> 00:01:05,040 just in hotels? 20 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:06,159 Speaker 3: Willy nilly? 21 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:11,959 Speaker 2: They have like suites named after the the individual authors. 22 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:13,640 Speaker 3: So oh, they're like really working it. 23 00:01:14,159 --> 00:01:17,400 Speaker 2: They're really working it. Yes, I'm a sweet I have 24 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:18,560 an irregular. 25 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:20,400 Speaker 3: Little room in the Watkins suite. 26 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:23,760 Speaker 2: That's great. I'm going to write it in pen on 27 00:01:23,799 --> 00:01:24,719 the door when I leave. 28 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:27,840 Speaker 1: And you were telling us just before we got started 29 00:01:27,879 --> 00:01:30,560 that it is allegedly extremely nice weather there. 30 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:32,439 Speaker 2: Yes, is the first time I've ever been in New 31 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:35,359 Orleans where it's great weather, seventy eight degrees sunny. I 32 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:37,920 hear there's a tornado warning right now in Austin, so 33 00:01:38,079 --> 00:01:39,439 I hope everyone's safe. 34 00:01:39,799 --> 00:01:43,000 Speaker 3: Yeah, so hate that for us, I mean love it 35 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:43,319 for you. 36 00:01:44,079 --> 00:01:46,959 Speaker 1: I will say this episode is a little bit I 37 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:50,400 fear it's a little bit cursed in that I started 38 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:53,760 working last night at five pm, started working on the script, 39 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:56,079 and as I started working on the script, my power 40 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:59,280 went out, and I thought, that's okay, that's why we 41 00:01:59,319 --> 00:02:01,280 have the morning work on the script. And this morning 42 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:03,239 I sat down at my desk at nine am to 43 00:02:03,319 --> 00:02:05,040 work on the script and my power went out. 44 00:02:05,239 --> 00:02:08,240 Speaker 3: So, oh, we're kind of winging it here. I'm gonna 45 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:09,520 be honest. That's uh. 46 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:13,919 Speaker 1: That's on the weirdest, wettest May we're having. But that's 47 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:17,280 not what we're here to talk about. As I just 48 00:02:17,319 --> 00:02:20,759 alluded to this is our first episode in May on 49 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:23,960 an odd numbered year, which means we are officially in 50 00:02:24,039 --> 00:02:28,080 the final month of the regular Texas legislative session. 51 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:29,560 Speaker 3: So much has. 52 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:32,759 Speaker 1: Already happened, There's so much left to happen and to 53 00:02:32,759 --> 00:02:35,639 discuss all of this. We are joined by two of 54 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:40,439 The Texas Tribune's best or ace political reporters. Uh Kayla Guo, 55 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:43,280 who is a politics reporter for the Tribune, Kayla, how 56 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:43,560 are you. 57 00:02:44,039 --> 00:02:47,360 Speaker 4: I'm doing all right? Surprisingly not as strench. I just 58 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,439 got back from the Capitol and it's it's missying out there. 59 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:54,240 Speaker 3: Okay, great. And Renzo Downey lative. 60 00:02:54,719 --> 00:02:56,639 Speaker 2: I was just gonna say, I feel like every legislative 61 00:02:56,680 --> 00:02:59,439 session there was at least one terrible storm that happens 62 00:02:59,479 --> 00:03:02,479 like while people are legislating, and we all like hear 63 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:05,439 the windows rattle and everything like that. So maybe that'll 64 00:03:05,439 --> 00:03:09,039 be today, and it's better than maybe. I'm in New Orleans. 65 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:10,240 I have no idea yet. 66 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 1: He's like, it couldn't be today. It's beautiful and sunny. 67 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:16,400 It is possibly today. It's really quite ominous, but I 68 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:20,879 think it's passing. And Renzo Downey, the lead author of 69 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:25,240 the Blast, our subscription newsletter for Capital insiders, Renzo, how 70 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:26,439 are you doing all right? 71 00:03:26,479 --> 00:03:28,639 Speaker 5: You know, I stayed pretty dry because I somehow found 72 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:31,680 the only ten to twenty minute window when it wasn't 73 00:03:31,759 --> 00:03:33,280 raining to bike over here. 74 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:35,759 Speaker 3: So that makes me you biked over here. 75 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:38,319 Speaker 5: Yeah, that's my one personality trait, so I got to 76 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:38,759 keep it up. 77 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:39,919 Speaker 3: Yeah, that's fair. I get that. 78 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: Real conversation starter. Yeah, well, I'll be honest. We are 79 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:48,400 in a bit of an unusual position for May sixth. 80 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:53,199 We are today May sixth. May sixth, we are you know, 81 00:03:53,599 --> 00:03:56,439 a little less than a month until Siney die. And 82 00:03:56,759 --> 00:04:01,639 on Saturday, the Saturday before this, couple days ago, Governor 83 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:05,520 Greg Abbott has already signed the biggest bill of the session. 84 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:10,400 On Saturday, he put his Greg Hancock on legislation creating 85 00:04:10,439 --> 00:04:15,680 a one billion dollar school voucher program. Despite the power Outgiess, 86 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:18,399 I did manage to write that into the script. This 87 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:19,800 has been you know, this was like the. 88 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:21,040 Speaker 2: Huge power tour, Mike. 89 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:25,639 Speaker 1: Yeah, yes, the I really was like, this is the 90 00:04:25,639 --> 00:04:28,959 one thing we must get in. I mean, this has 91 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:30,839 been the issue of the session. We've been talking about 92 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:35,040 this all session. They did it, They passed a voucher's program. 93 00:04:35,319 --> 00:04:39,000 It passed both chambers, it was signed into law, and we. 94 00:04:38,959 --> 00:04:44,040 Speaker 3: Still have a month left. So what is left to do? Matthew. 95 00:04:44,079 --> 00:04:46,759 Speaker 1: Can you remember a session like this where kind of 96 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:49,560 the big swings were done and dusted this early? 97 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:55,720 Speaker 2: I cannot, I you know, I mean, I think the 98 00:04:55,759 --> 00:04:59,720 more memorable sessions tend to be the ones where the 99 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:02,120 big bill doesn't make it across the finish line, like 100 00:05:02,199 --> 00:05:06,839 vouchers last year, like the bathroom bill in twenty seventeen. 101 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:11,800 You know, usually when it's an exciting session, it's an 102 00:05:11,839 --> 00:05:15,439 exciting session because we're wondering whether they'll get things across 103 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:18,199 the finish line. I think there's still plenty of an 104 00:05:18,199 --> 00:05:21,040 opportunity for there to be drama and you know, special 105 00:05:21,079 --> 00:05:28,040 session conversations. But no, this is a impressively efficient way 106 00:05:28,079 --> 00:05:31,000 of getting through a major controversial bill. And I think 107 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:33,319 a lot of that credit, you know, goes to Abbott 108 00:05:33,319 --> 00:05:35,439 for really pulling this off politically. 109 00:05:36,279 --> 00:05:37,079 Speaker 3: Yeah. Absolutely. 110 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:41,399 Speaker 1: There is another piece of this though, with the school vouchers, 111 00:05:41,399 --> 00:05:43,600 that was sort of its buddy legislation, which was the 112 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:46,800 school finance legislation. Renzo, tell us a little bit about 113 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:50,040 that and where that stands, because that has not already 114 00:05:50,079 --> 00:05:51,800 gotten the Greg Hancock correct. 115 00:05:51,839 --> 00:05:54,720 Speaker 5: Yeah, so as the House was calling it. This is 116 00:05:54,759 --> 00:05:57,360 kind of their Texas two step plan where they have 117 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:00,879 the the ESA bill, which that's the one that just 118 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:03,199 got signed, that's the voucher bill, and then they also 119 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:08,000 have the public school finance portion, which so far has 120 00:06:08,079 --> 00:06:13,720 been only referred to the Senate Education K sixteen Committee. 121 00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:15,240 They got a little fancy with the name this year. 122 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:21,920 And it sounds like Senator Creighton Brandon Crayton, he's the 123 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:24,639 chairman that committee. Sounds like his staff has been reviewing 124 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:29,399 that bill, but there hasn't been much talk about, you know, 125 00:06:29,439 --> 00:06:34,920 what's actually happening with that bill. Yesterday, so Monday, we 126 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:41,399 had the Governor Dan Patrick, we had Dustin Burrow's old 127 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:43,319 kind of put out on social media that they just met. 128 00:06:43,439 --> 00:06:46,160 They talked about their priorities. I mean, they've been doing 129 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:48,639 this frequently, but they did again on Monday, and in 130 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:54,600 that Burroughs mentioned public school funding as one of his priorities. 131 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:57,399 So sounds like maybe that's moving forward. And you know, 132 00:06:57,399 --> 00:07:00,519 I heard from Brad Buckley, who's the gairman of the 133 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:05,519 House Public Education Committee, that doesn't sound like there's any 134 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:07,759 hold up really that there's agreement that will get move 135 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:09,959 in soon, so you know, maybe that's still to. 136 00:07:09,839 --> 00:07:13,920 Speaker 1: Come because those are really like we're seen as like, 137 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:16,959 you know, you can't you could have one without the other. 138 00:07:17,439 --> 00:07:19,959 The politics around it was you can't have one without 139 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:24,000 the other. And so now we have essays education savings accounts. 140 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:26,920 As you said, it would be necessary sort of to 141 00:07:27,199 --> 00:07:30,160 hold uphold the promises that they sort of were were 142 00:07:30,199 --> 00:07:30,839 talking about. 143 00:07:31,199 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 5: Yes, and I'd say that public schools would certainly not 144 00:07:34,199 --> 00:07:37,360 see it as you know, a political move. It's you know, 145 00:07:37,439 --> 00:07:40,959 they're funding that. You know, they're feeling, they're feeling the 146 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:44,199 hurt that they haven't gotten that pay raise since what 147 00:07:44,279 --> 00:07:48,920 twenty nineteen was that last public education session, so you 148 00:07:48,959 --> 00:07:50,040 know they think they're due. 149 00:07:50,319 --> 00:07:50,519 Speaker 3: Yeah. 150 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:54,639 Speaker 2: Absolutely, Yeah, this feels to me like kind of standard 151 00:07:54,759 --> 00:07:58,439 late May. We got to figure this out, and we're 152 00:07:58,439 --> 00:07:59,319 going to figure this out. 153 00:07:59,360 --> 00:07:59,439 Speaker 1: Right. 154 00:07:59,639 --> 00:08:02,240 Speaker 2: It feels this very hard for me to imagine them 155 00:08:02,319 --> 00:08:08,720 getting through this session without figuring out school finance, both 156 00:08:08,759 --> 00:08:11,439 because of, as you mentioned, how much the schools need it, 157 00:08:11,519 --> 00:08:14,839 but also because if Democrats are going to be attacking 158 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:19,240 Republicans over schools in the upcoming election, it's going to 159 00:08:19,279 --> 00:08:22,199 be really nice to have a you know, be able 160 00:08:22,199 --> 00:08:24,759 to say we put X billion amount of dollars into 161 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:27,639 public schools last year to kind of blunt that attack. 162 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:31,759 So I feel, you know, this is around the time 163 00:08:31,759 --> 00:08:33,879 where everyone starts worrying about whether they're going to be 164 00:08:33,919 --> 00:08:37,159 able to get something done, but this, you know, feels 165 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:41,240 like one they have to and probably will. 166 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:43,600 Speaker 1: Right that seems the fate of the school finance bill 167 00:08:43,639 --> 00:08:46,919 seems more set and certain than perhaps some of the 168 00:08:47,159 --> 00:08:52,480 other priority legislation that we threatens to potentially ruin our 169 00:08:52,519 --> 00:08:56,320 summers as political reporters, Kayla, you've been covering these other 170 00:08:56,440 --> 00:09:01,679 two top priorities, which are you know, the THHC ban 171 00:09:01,919 --> 00:09:06,279 or regulate question and then bail reform. Let's start with 172 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:09,919 bail reform. What gives a little background on that as 173 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:11,320 an issue and where's that stand? 174 00:09:11,559 --> 00:09:14,440 Speaker 4: Yep. So this has been a priority of the governors 175 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:17,039 for a few sessions running now it hasn't gone through 176 00:09:17,159 --> 00:09:20,919 because the constitutional amendments need this time around at least 177 00:09:20,919 --> 00:09:25,120 twelve Democrats to get on board. Governor Abbott sort of 178 00:09:25,159 --> 00:09:28,440 threw a wrench into discussions last week when he called 179 00:09:28,519 --> 00:09:32,960 for the legislation to go even further than it does. Basically, 180 00:09:33,039 --> 00:09:36,679 the premise is trying to allow judges to deny bail 181 00:09:36,799 --> 00:09:42,080 altogether in more cases. The Texas Constitution currently outlaws when 182 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:44,840 that or outlines when that can happen, and the goal 183 00:09:44,879 --> 00:09:48,320 of this legislation is to widen that list. He called 184 00:09:48,399 --> 00:09:51,840 for making it automatic denial of bail in some cases, 185 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:56,039 which again goes further than what the legislation currently does. 186 00:09:56,440 --> 00:09:59,440 I think Democrats were a little bit uneasy about that 187 00:09:59,559 --> 00:10:02,879 and the A package, which also calls for automatically denying 188 00:10:02,919 --> 00:10:06,799 bail to any undocumented immigrant who commits a crime or 189 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:10,799 is accused of a crime, rather and so the conversations 190 00:10:10,799 --> 00:10:12,840 were about how do we get twelve Democrats on board 191 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:15,080 to get to the one hundred votes we need to pass 192 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:20,440 a constitutional amendment. Democrats were calling for some changes to 193 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:22,360 the bill to make it a little more palatable. They 194 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:25,320 wanted to see some measures that would help people on 195 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:28,559 the lower end of crimes, first time misdemeanor offenders, nonviolent 196 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:32,240 offenders be able to get out pre trial and not 197 00:10:32,279 --> 00:10:35,559 be detained just because they couldn't afford their bill. So 198 00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:39,200 we were trying to track where those negotiations or negotiations 199 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:41,639 were going as of this morning, it seems like they're 200 00:10:42,279 --> 00:10:47,320 close to an agreement. I spoke to Chairman Smithy, who's 201 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:50,399 sort of the lead Republican. He chairs the Criminal Jurisy 202 00:10:50,399 --> 00:10:54,519 Prince Committee, talked to Gen Wu who's House Democratic Caucus chair, 203 00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:57,679 and they both said we are expecting agreement in the 204 00:10:57,759 --> 00:11:01,879 next couple of days, and both seemed okay with where 205 00:11:01,919 --> 00:11:05,960 they had their trying to land and seem to think 206 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:08,679 that enough people in both parties would vote rude on 207 00:11:08,679 --> 00:11:11,919 the House side. And they've been discussing with the Senate 208 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:12,519 all this time. 209 00:11:12,559 --> 00:11:13,840 Speaker 3: So what seemed like. 210 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:18,720 Speaker 4: A pretty thorny issue, it seems like people are pointing 211 00:11:18,759 --> 00:11:22,960 towards the direction that it may get resolved and so 212 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:24,360 we may have our summers after all. 213 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:28,279 Speaker 5: Great so was that the members on the House side 214 00:11:28,279 --> 00:11:29,759 saying that they have a deal. 215 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:34,120 Speaker 4: Was that fair? Smithy was saying probably sometime today they 216 00:11:34,159 --> 00:11:38,080 would know if they would have a deal. Jeane moves 217 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:40,200 sort of in broad Strokes said he was aware of 218 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:45,480 an agreement coming together and to expect some movement out 219 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:47,960 of committee in the House this week, which they have 220 00:11:48,039 --> 00:11:49,759 to if they want to make it happen. 221 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:52,679 Speaker 1: What are sort of the two sides of it, not 222 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:56,559 like politically or not like boats wise or proposals wise, 223 00:11:56,600 --> 00:11:59,200 but like, why does Greg Abbot feel like this is important? 224 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:00,879 Speaker 3: And what are the Democrats fighting for? 225 00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:06,000 Speaker 4: So Greg Abbott and other Republican leaders and Democrats don't 226 00:12:06,039 --> 00:12:09,440 necessarily disagree on this point, but the point is, we 227 00:12:09,519 --> 00:12:12,879 want to keep dangerous people who have been accused of 228 00:12:12,919 --> 00:12:15,639 violent crimes, or who have a record that shows they 229 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:17,840 might be a threat to public safety and or might 230 00:12:17,879 --> 00:12:20,600 not show up to their court hearing. We want to 231 00:12:20,799 --> 00:12:23,159 keep those people behind bars so that they don't go 232 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:26,279 out and commit more crimes before their case is resolved. 233 00:12:26,279 --> 00:12:29,879 And Greg Abbot specifically, and other Republican leaders like Joan Huffman, 234 00:12:29,879 --> 00:12:33,519 who's leading the bills in the Senate, they've pointed to 235 00:12:33,759 --> 00:12:37,519 pretty graphic and horrific cases of people who have seemingly 236 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:39,879 been let out on bond who go ahead and then 237 00:12:39,919 --> 00:12:43,279 commit some other violent crime. They're often surrounded by these 238 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:47,120 lawmakers are often surrounded by family members of crime victims, 239 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:50,960 and they say this is because judges, particularly in places 240 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:53,840 like Harris Crowney, are not being thoughtful by the decisions 241 00:12:53,879 --> 00:12:56,279 they're letting these people out onto the streets, and that's 242 00:12:56,279 --> 00:12:59,240 a threat to public safety. On the flip side of it, 243 00:12:59,279 --> 00:13:01,759 there's the concern and that you know, liberty should be 244 00:13:01,879 --> 00:13:04,799 the norm. These are people who are legally presumed innocent. 245 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:09,159 That's a constitutional guarantee. And if we make detention the norm, 246 00:13:09,279 --> 00:13:11,200 that is an infringement of civil rights. It's going to 247 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:14,240 swell our jail populations. It's an unfunded mandate to counties 248 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:16,200 who have to hold all these people in these jails 249 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:21,039 now and again just threatens to pull back on constitutional protections. 250 00:13:21,039 --> 00:13:23,440 Because anyone can be accused of a crime, not everyone's 251 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:25,960 going to be an actual threats public safety. And it 252 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:28,279 also people on the flip side of it argue that 253 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:31,840 detaining people pre trial actually hurts public safety because it 254 00:13:31,879 --> 00:13:34,960 separates people from their families, makes people lose their jobs. 255 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:37,639 Jails are not a pleasant place to spend your time, obviously, 256 00:13:38,399 --> 00:13:41,000 and cannot blasting effects on that side. 257 00:13:41,159 --> 00:13:43,840 Speaker 1: We've sort of talked about this on the podcast before, Matthew, 258 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:47,039 you and I about like the pendulum swing and on 259 00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:48,679 this and the next issue we're going to talk about. 260 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:50,559 Right of like, there definitely was a moment where it 261 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:54,360 was like everyone is raw rack criminal justice reform. You know, 262 00:13:55,039 --> 00:13:57,600 jails are over crowded in just and now we're sort 263 00:13:57,639 --> 00:14:00,000 of going back in the other direction of like certainly 264 00:14:00,039 --> 00:14:04,360 from Republicans, like we need more like harshire penalties, more 265 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:07,320 of this like war on crime mentality. 266 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:10,159 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean one of the things that I've found 267 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:13,559 confusing about this debate as it has gone on session 268 00:14:13,559 --> 00:14:17,000 after session is the sort of changing definition of bail reform, right, 269 00:14:17,039 --> 00:14:19,759 Like a lot of what bail reform was originally talked about, 270 00:14:19,919 --> 00:14:23,000 you know, particularly in places like Harris County, was addressing 271 00:14:23,039 --> 00:14:25,679 some of the things that you were saying, Kayla about 272 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:29,639 like growing jail populations, this idea that you're, you know, 273 00:14:29,759 --> 00:14:32,600 innocent until proven guilty. Bail is not supposed to be 274 00:14:33,519 --> 00:14:35,399 you know, holding someone pre trial is not supposed to 275 00:14:35,399 --> 00:14:38,240 be a punishment. It's supposed to, you know, be a 276 00:14:38,279 --> 00:14:41,799 public safety measure and things like that. And Abbott really 277 00:14:41,919 --> 00:14:44,559 kind of turned that on its head, right and made 278 00:14:44,559 --> 00:14:48,320 bail reforms for him instead, like let's stop this practice 279 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:51,840 of allowing dangerous criminals to go back onto the streets, 280 00:14:52,399 --> 00:14:56,320 you know, while they're awaiting trial, pointing to a lot 281 00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:58,840 of these cases that have happened, and you know, it's 282 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:02,240 been a very sort of topsy turvy up and down 283 00:15:02,879 --> 00:15:06,799 process for criminal justice in this state in the last decade. 284 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:07,279 Speaker 3: Or so, for sure. 285 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:10,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, it definitely is an example of like the limitations 286 00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:13,399 of language and the like shorthands we use, like because 287 00:15:13,399 --> 00:15:16,120 I think you say bail reform to anyone in the capital, 288 00:15:16,159 --> 00:15:19,600 you're gonna like, reform means very different things depending on 289 00:15:19,639 --> 00:15:21,919 who you ask, So at least for us, like I 290 00:15:21,919 --> 00:15:23,679 think we've sort of stopped using that as a term 291 00:15:23,759 --> 00:15:28,960 in like headlines or stories because reform doesn't mean anything 292 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:30,480 if we don't agree on what the problem is. 293 00:15:30,559 --> 00:15:30,799 Speaker 4: Yeah. 294 00:15:30,879 --> 00:15:34,639 Speaker 1: Yeah, the other issue that we've seen a real pendulum 295 00:15:34,639 --> 00:15:36,559 swing on in the last couple of years and is 296 00:15:36,559 --> 00:15:40,159 the other thing potentially threatening our summer vacations by which 297 00:15:40,159 --> 00:15:45,240 we mean like potential for special session is THHC. We 298 00:15:45,639 --> 00:15:47,000 did a whole episode on this, so if you want, 299 00:15:47,039 --> 00:15:50,240 like all the in the weeds stuff, not I didn't 300 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:52,799 even write that pun that was just right off the top, 301 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:55,360 you know, go back. 302 00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:55,720 Speaker 3: And listen to that. 303 00:15:55,759 --> 00:15:57,960 Speaker 1: But the gist is I understand it, Kayla, and correct 304 00:15:58,000 --> 00:15:59,840 me if I'm wrong, because you've been covering this is like, 305 00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:04,840 you know, we passed this bill and that sort of 306 00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:05,759 led to. 307 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:08,159 Speaker 3: Many sessions ago twenty nineteen. 308 00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:12,480 Speaker 1: That led to like a deluge of consumable hemp products 309 00:16:12,559 --> 00:16:17,120 THHC products on the market that now are like there 310 00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:20,799 is regulation, some regulation written into the law. The effect 311 00:16:20,799 --> 00:16:25,519 on the street is that this is basically unregulated. The 312 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:27,440 legislature would like to put this genie back. 313 00:16:27,279 --> 00:16:28,639 Speaker 3: In the bottle to some extent. 314 00:16:30,039 --> 00:16:34,159 Speaker 1: The Senate broadly speaking, would like to see it banned entirely. 315 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:37,320 The House, broadly speaking, would like to see it regulated. 316 00:16:39,159 --> 00:16:40,519 Speaker 3: Where do we stand on this now? 317 00:16:41,679 --> 00:16:44,279 Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean he summed up the differing approaches pretty well. 318 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:47,159 I think Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick says, you can't regulate 319 00:16:47,159 --> 00:16:49,200 this stuff, You got to ban it. It's too hard 320 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:52,080 for law enforcement to try to test different products to 321 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:54,879 see how much THC is in there. We just got 322 00:16:54,919 --> 00:16:56,320 to ban it all together. That's the only way to 323 00:16:56,360 --> 00:17:01,080 protect young people and protect people from using products that 324 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:03,639 have way more THHC than the law technically allows as 325 00:17:03,639 --> 00:17:06,599 it stands. That is a very different approach. We saw 326 00:17:06,759 --> 00:17:10,160 State Affairs Chairman Ken King advance his own bill out 327 00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:13,200 of his committee. I believe it was last week. It 328 00:17:13,279 --> 00:17:18,039 is a much more regulatory bill rather than a straight 329 00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:21,400 up ban. He does address certain things that Dan Patrick 330 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:25,559 thought was important, which was banning synthetics, banning vapes, but 331 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:29,880 his bill would still allow for edibles for beverages. I 332 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:34,119 believe it called. It funnels money from the from the 333 00:17:34,119 --> 00:17:37,680 sale of these things. The tax of manufacturing and selling 334 00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:40,240 and producing these products in Texas funnels some of that 335 00:17:40,319 --> 00:17:43,440 money to crime labs, to law enforcement to help them, 336 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:46,640 you know, keep the guardrails on this. And it also 337 00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:50,440 makes sure that children that the packaging of these products 338 00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:53,960 aren't marketed toward children and are not you know, accessible 339 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:58,160 to children. So's it's a much more complicated bill, I guess, 340 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:00,400 and in that it's not just as straight up black 341 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:03,839 and white ban. But it is a very different thing 342 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:06,519 than what Dan Patrick has called for. And Patrick has 343 00:18:06,519 --> 00:18:08,480 said that he would force a special session if he 344 00:18:08,519 --> 00:18:12,799 doesn't get this ban, So I we'll have to see 345 00:18:12,799 --> 00:18:13,920 how they reconcile. 346 00:18:13,559 --> 00:18:17,720 Speaker 2: Those has dan Patrick weigde in on the House bill, like, 347 00:18:17,799 --> 00:18:20,160 do we have any sense of how he feels about 348 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:23,359 this attempted a compromise. 349 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:28,000 Speaker 5: I haven't heard Dan Patrick say anything about the House bill, 350 00:18:28,079 --> 00:18:32,359 but I have heard that Dan Patrick is serious about 351 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:35,799 the special session threat when it comes to THHC, specifically 352 00:18:35,799 --> 00:18:36,759 THC so. 353 00:18:37,039 --> 00:18:41,279 Speaker 3: With the ban like uh TV on whether whether enough 354 00:18:41,319 --> 00:18:44,200 regulation would get there, but he is saying the ban 355 00:18:44,359 --> 00:18:48,799 is the move correct. All right, Well, that's fine. 356 00:18:50,119 --> 00:18:53,599 Speaker 1: We like no opinion on the legislation, but opinion on 357 00:18:54,079 --> 00:18:56,200 the concept of a special session vacation. 358 00:18:56,440 --> 00:18:57,960 Speaker 3: Yeah. 359 00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:00,599 Speaker 1: You know, we're gonna talk a little bit later about 360 00:19:00,599 --> 00:19:03,079 like some of the politics and the infighting we've been 361 00:19:03,119 --> 00:19:06,279 seeing in the chambers. But Renzo, sort of off the 362 00:19:06,279 --> 00:19:07,799 top of your head, what are some of the other 363 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:10,720 major piece of legislation we have to see get over 364 00:19:10,759 --> 00:19:13,480 the finish line this session that's still sort of yet 365 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:14,079 to be done. 366 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:16,960 Speaker 5: Yeah, Well, if we look at some of the governor's 367 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:20,480 other emergency items, he did seven this year. That's you know, 368 00:19:20,559 --> 00:19:22,759 he did seven last session as well. That's kind of 369 00:19:22,799 --> 00:19:24,599 a lot of emergency items to do. 370 00:19:24,759 --> 00:19:26,880 Speaker 3: Lots of emergencies, a lot of emergencies. 371 00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:28,480 Speaker 5: And the big, great, big state of. 372 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:29,680 Speaker 3: Texas is on fire. 373 00:19:29,799 --> 00:19:34,000 Speaker 5: I mean well actually speaking of Yeah, well, one of 374 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:37,240 the major priorities that have been talked about is the 375 00:19:37,279 --> 00:19:40,720 water bill. I believe that's still moving through. Don't think 376 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:44,319 there's any set agreement on that yet. And the grid 377 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:48,000 bill as well as moving through. I haven't been following 378 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:51,920 those as closely probably should be at this point, right. 379 00:19:51,799 --> 00:19:53,480 Speaker 3: But got other reporters doing that. 380 00:19:53,559 --> 00:19:57,960 Speaker 1: But yeah, it's moving yeah, yeah, yeah, so water grid. 381 00:19:59,039 --> 00:20:03,519 I think there's still property tax Yeah, that's getting resolved. 382 00:20:03,599 --> 00:20:06,519 Speaker 5: Yeah, it sounds like we have a deal on property taxes. 383 00:20:06,599 --> 00:20:10,640 We had both relevant committee chairs in the House and 384 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:15,440 Senate announced yesterday. It's mostly the Senate plan. So it's 385 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:19,720 raising the homestead exemption from one hundred thousand to one 386 00:20:19,759 --> 00:20:24,319 hundred and forty thousand for everybody, and then the additional 387 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:29,200 senior and people with disabilities that homestead exemption is going from. 388 00:20:29,319 --> 00:20:32,599 That additional homestead is going from ten to sixty thousand, 389 00:20:33,039 --> 00:20:35,799 So for those seniors, that's going to be a two 390 00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:40,079 hundred thousand dollars homestead exemption. In Dan Patrick hopes that 391 00:20:40,079 --> 00:20:43,440 that's going to basically wipe out property taxes for every senior. 392 00:20:44,319 --> 00:20:46,319 I think it was saying forever. I don't we'll see 393 00:20:46,319 --> 00:20:50,240 how long you know, two hundred thousand dollars last. Yeah, 394 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:54,119 so that's the main component. Well, no, I shouldn't say that, 395 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:58,359 but that's the Senate portion that was kind of approved 396 00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:03,920 as is. And then there's also the business Let's see 397 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:07,519 if I can get this right business personal property tax exemption, 398 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:12,640 so that's like the intangible intangible things that business would have, 399 00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:17,000 and that they kind of met in the middle on that. 400 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:21,480 The Senate wanted to raise it from to twenty five 401 00:21:21,599 --> 00:21:27,799 hundred to twenty five thousand, so ten times increase, and 402 00:21:28,039 --> 00:21:31,160 the House wanted to go to two hundred and fifty thousand, 403 00:21:31,359 --> 00:21:34,200 and so they met in the middle under twenty five thousand. 404 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:37,000 So that's still a pretty good chunk and businesses are 405 00:21:37,039 --> 00:21:37,960 pretty happy about that. 406 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:40,240 Speaker 1: Fantastic And we're actually gonna next week have a whole 407 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:43,359 episode getting into housing and property tax. We're gonna take 408 00:21:43,359 --> 00:21:46,599 a quick break and thank our sponsors. Today's episode is 409 00:21:46,599 --> 00:21:51,319 supported by Protecting American Consumers Together. Learn about pack's mission 410 00:21:51,359 --> 00:21:54,599 to protect families and consumers from rising costs driven by 411 00:21:54,599 --> 00:21:59,279 excessive litigation and lawsuit abuse at Protecting American Consumers dot org. 412 00:22:00,039 --> 00:22:04,200 To Safer Texas Alliance supports SB three, advocating for responsible 413 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:07,200 THC policies that protect public health and safety. 414 00:22:07,519 --> 00:22:10,039 Speaker 3: Learn more at Safer Texas Alliance dot com. 415 00:22:10,559 --> 00:22:13,240 Speaker 1: The Texas Managed Care Alliance is working to protect high 416 00:22:13,319 --> 00:22:17,880 quality healthcare from Medicaid patients, ensure accountability for taxpayer dollars, 417 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:22,240 and advocate for fair and competitive contracting policies. Find information 418 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:26,960 at Texas Managedcare Alliance dot org, slash Procurements and the 419 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:30,599 Lone Star Economic Alliance, a coalition of nearly one thousand, 420 00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:34,359 one hundred and fifty Texas job creators, citizens and business 421 00:22:34,359 --> 00:22:38,240 associations working to restore transparency and fairness to the state's 422 00:22:38,279 --> 00:22:41,359 court system. Learn more at l s e a t 423 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:43,559 x dot com forward. 424 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:48,119 Speaker 3: Slash v issue. So I want to now turn to 425 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:50,519 sort of the vibes of the session. 426 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:53,599 Speaker 1: We as we've talked about a lot on this podcast, 427 00:22:53,799 --> 00:22:58,720 we've seen a remarkable amount of cohesion between the chambers, 428 00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:01,920 between the big three, between the LEADLeadership of the House, 429 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:05,720 the Senate, the Governor. As Renzo you mentioned, they're having dinners, 430 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:08,000 they're having lunches, they're having breakfast, they're shown up at 431 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:11,000 press conferences together a whole different vibe than last session 432 00:23:11,039 --> 00:23:17,759 where things were icy. But within specifically the House chamber itself, 433 00:23:18,279 --> 00:23:20,359 there's been a lot of infighting. There's been a lot 434 00:23:20,359 --> 00:23:25,559 of sort of messiness. If we will, maybe you can 435 00:23:25,599 --> 00:23:28,200 sort of start us off and explain a little bit 436 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:32,400 about you know, there's been several battles start us with 437 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:35,880 the what we've been calling sort of the constitutional amendment blockade, 438 00:23:36,079 --> 00:23:38,759 which the blockade has been lifted, but what sort of 439 00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:42,039 brought us to this moment of pretty significant conflict on 440 00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:43,240 the House floor. 441 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:46,359 Speaker 5: Yeah, well, you're talking about the vibes. The vibes are 442 00:23:46,359 --> 00:23:47,440 certainly weird in the House. 443 00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:48,279 Speaker 3: Is weird. 444 00:23:48,359 --> 00:23:50,519 Speaker 5: Everybody's talking about it. They're like this, this is a 445 00:23:50,559 --> 00:23:53,440 weird we can't get our finger on it. Yeah. Yeah, 446 00:23:53,519 --> 00:23:59,039 So the constitucial amendment blockade that began, that began pretty 447 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:02,759 early on when they set the first House calendar. The 448 00:24:02,759 --> 00:24:06,160 first couple of constitutional amendments got through. And basically what 449 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:09,920 the blockade was is that it takes one hundred votes 450 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:12,680 in the House to pass the constitutional amendment, to adopt 451 00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:19,160 a constitutional amendment, and with eighty eight Republicans, you need 452 00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:23,640 twelve Democrats at least on board. And so what the 453 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:27,160 Democrats are doing was they all got together and I 454 00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:31,440 think fifty, you know, high fifties of the sixty two 455 00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:34,720 Democrats said we're not going to vote for constitutional amendments 456 00:24:34,799 --> 00:24:37,039 until we get and they had, you know, kind of 457 00:24:37,039 --> 00:24:38,720 a secret list of things that they were pushing for. 458 00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:43,799 One of them was to put the voucher question on 459 00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:49,119 the ballot in November, and that got scuggled partially by 460 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:54,400 the governor and you know, Republicans you know, left you know, 461 00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:58,440 left Democrats out to dry on that vote. And that 462 00:24:58,599 --> 00:25:02,960 was just one component though, and after that they kept 463 00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:06,880 the blockade going. They're trying to basically the idea was 464 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:11,680 to tell House leadership that the House is an independent 465 00:25:12,319 --> 00:25:15,720 part of the Texas government. You know, they're independent of 466 00:25:15,759 --> 00:25:18,160 the Senate, they're independent. The governor in the House needs 467 00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:22,759 to assert itself as such. And as you remember, as 468 00:25:22,799 --> 00:25:27,160 you may remember, the Democrats basically got Burrows elected at 469 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:30,160 the start of the session and so they they're you know, 470 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:33,359 major part of his governing governing coalition. 471 00:25:33,599 --> 00:25:35,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, they've like kind of come to collect you know, 472 00:25:35,559 --> 00:25:37,920 and like basically, yeah, it's an interesting strike. I mean, 473 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:41,279 they're not saying like we want everything right. They're saying, like, 474 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:43,480 there's a couple of things that we refuse to kind 475 00:25:43,519 --> 00:25:46,359 of compromise on now on at least one you mentioned 476 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:47,519 was like the boucherss thing. 477 00:25:47,519 --> 00:25:51,640 Speaker 3: They kind of got steamrolled anyway, So there's some they're 478 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:54,039 showing some power, but there's also limitations to their power. 479 00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:56,240 Speaker 4: Right, they also have to have something to show for 480 00:25:56,319 --> 00:25:59,519 electing Burroughs and you know, paving that way for him 481 00:25:59,559 --> 00:26:02,279 to get a life. And if they don't like that, 482 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:03,640 it's like why did you vote for this? 483 00:26:04,319 --> 00:26:06,759 Speaker 3: Right, they have to answer to their constituency, right, Yeah. 484 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:07,240 Speaker 4: Yeah. 485 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:10,799 Speaker 5: In recent days you've been seeing the House Democratic Leader 486 00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:13,960 Jeen Wu really going to the back mit and back 487 00:26:14,079 --> 00:26:18,240 mic and you driving the point home when it comes 488 00:26:18,279 --> 00:26:23,480 to the public education funding. I think at this point 489 00:26:23,559 --> 00:26:25,839 that's kind of what the Democrats see is their biggest 490 00:26:25,839 --> 00:26:29,039 win that they can get right now. Yeah, So, anyway, 491 00:26:29,079 --> 00:26:32,400 that that was going on the whole blockade and that 492 00:26:33,599 --> 00:26:37,279 you got some of the the more conservative members in 493 00:26:37,319 --> 00:26:41,119 the in the House, there's between you know, like a 494 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:44,720 dozen to two dozen Republicans that have kind of been 495 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:50,920 anti Burrows or anti Leadership to varying degrees, and so 496 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,359 a group of them kind of because of all the 497 00:26:53,359 --> 00:26:56,880 constitutional medment stuff on specific bill and that you know, 498 00:26:57,119 --> 00:27:01,880 broader things as well. But they went and tore down 499 00:27:02,519 --> 00:27:05,720 the local and consent calendar, which is this important vehicle 500 00:27:05,799 --> 00:27:11,000 for passing bills that everybody agrees on they're like local bills, 501 00:27:11,079 --> 00:27:14,200 you know, the hospital, the fire department. 502 00:27:14,559 --> 00:27:17,440 Speaker 1: Rename this bridge, We need funding for the hospital district, 503 00:27:17,519 --> 00:27:20,200 we need like you know, all sorts of like boring 504 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:22,359 stuff that like you don't need everyone else to agree on, 505 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:25,240 You're just like, my district needs this, Yeah, please say yes. 506 00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:28,359 Speaker 5: Yeah. So the Conservatives went and they took down a 507 00:27:28,519 --> 00:27:33,400 couple of bills from Democrats who were pulled a move 508 00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:35,640 during Budget Night that this is such a huge web 509 00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:36,680 of everything going on. 510 00:27:36,799 --> 00:27:40,519 Speaker 3: It's like yeah, yeah, it's like a sort of a 511 00:27:41,079 --> 00:27:43,000 little slap fight basically. Yeah. 512 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:45,079 Speaker 5: So kind of in response to the constitutional amendments and 513 00:27:45,119 --> 00:27:51,000 Budget Night, they took down a couple of the Democrats bills, 514 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:53,200 and then the Democrats went down took down all the 515 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:56,319 Republican bills, and just the entire local and Consent calendar 516 00:27:56,359 --> 00:28:00,400 fell apart, and you know, today's Tuesday. On Wednesday, they're 517 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:02,240 sounds like they're going to try again with a new 518 00:28:02,279 --> 00:28:06,480 local and consent calendar, And the Conservatives are kind of 519 00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:09,480 seeing this as a little test of are they still 520 00:28:09,519 --> 00:28:15,160 serious about using the local and consent calendar as their 521 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:18,400 leverage Because we talked about the constitucial amendments being the Democrats. 522 00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:21,720 Speaker 3: Leverage the local and consent is the Conservatives. 523 00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:23,960 Speaker 5: Yeah, because that threshold to take down a bill is 524 00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:26,839 five members, and so now that you've got a dozen 525 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:30,640 who are consistently anti leadership, they're able to pull that 526 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:31,599 whenever they want. 527 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:34,160 Speaker 1: And the tangible effect of that is it just like 528 00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:37,839 slows everything to a halt because every single bill has 529 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:40,000 to then get called up, heard voted on. 530 00:28:40,799 --> 00:28:44,559 Speaker 3: Like I mean, we're going to be every single day. 531 00:28:44,599 --> 00:28:46,119 We'd be here all night, and a lot of stuff 532 00:28:46,119 --> 00:28:51,160 would probably sort of just end up missing deadlines because yeah, yeah, Matthew, 533 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:55,119 you've seen a wide range of strategies from. 534 00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:56,839 Speaker 1: These different parties over the years. I mean, what's your 535 00:28:56,880 --> 00:29:00,000 sense of like this pulling the local and consent calend 536 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:01,640 as a strategy to get what you want. 537 00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:05,960 Speaker 2: I mean, it's a really good way to piss off 538 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:07,920 a lot of people in the House, right, because these 539 00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:12,039 are the bills that just like it's constituent relationships, right. 540 00:29:12,119 --> 00:29:16,559 It's again like renaming the bridge, like people don't people 541 00:29:16,599 --> 00:29:19,519 in Abilene don't care about the name of the bridge 542 00:29:19,519 --> 00:29:22,359 and Corpus CHRISTI or you know that type of stuff. 543 00:29:22,359 --> 00:29:25,000 But it matters to a slight group of people that 544 00:29:25,119 --> 00:29:29,880 lawmakers want to make happy. As I sort of watched 545 00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:34,400 this from Afar, it sort of feels to me like 546 00:29:34,759 --> 00:29:41,200 two increasingly irrelevant groups in the House trying to find 547 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:43,759 a way to make themselves relevant, or at least like 548 00:29:43,880 --> 00:29:46,599 show to the people who support them that they can 549 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:51,279 be relevant. You know. You know, I remember in the 550 00:29:52,319 --> 00:29:54,839 I think it was the twenty twenty three type trip fest, 551 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:59,799 I moderated a panel of House Democrats and it sort 552 00:29:59,799 --> 00:30:03,839 of evolved into this very angry confrontation between John Bryant 553 00:30:04,359 --> 00:30:08,680 and Trey Martinez Fisher about like whether Democrats are doing 554 00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:12,279 enough to you know, exert their will in the House. 555 00:30:12,559 --> 00:30:15,880 And you know, there's definitely a segment of the Democrats 556 00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:19,680 who feel like they should be acting stronger and fighting back. 557 00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:22,119 And I think some people look at that and be like, Okay, 558 00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:27,440 but you don't actually have that much power, right And 559 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:31,079 and that's where they come up with this constitutional blockade, 560 00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:34,920 and you know, the Republicans essentially they just call their bluff. 561 00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:36,799 They're like, we're going to pass this voucher bill and 562 00:30:36,839 --> 00:30:41,079 then you're really just going to be responsible for killing 563 00:30:41,119 --> 00:30:46,440 a hugely necessary needed water, you know, infrastructure bill like 564 00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:48,799 go ahead, do it and see if it works. And 565 00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:51,799 then on the other side, you know, you have a 566 00:30:52,359 --> 00:30:55,640 House speaker who has This is a position that in 567 00:30:55,680 --> 00:31:01,680 recent years has traditionally fought with the sort of what 568 00:31:01,799 --> 00:31:04,880 may or may not be accurately called the grass roots 569 00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:07,680 wing of the party right, and they've always been a 570 00:31:07,759 --> 00:31:10,599 thorn in the side. There's at times been you know, 571 00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:14,359 Dan Patrick jumping in and backing that wing. This year 572 00:31:14,559 --> 00:31:17,799 Patrick taking a different approach, not really taking that side. 573 00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:20,680 But there's a segment of that population that really wants 574 00:31:20,720 --> 00:31:22,920 to step in and still sort of assert their will 575 00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:26,960 or at the very least show a certain constituency of 576 00:31:27,039 --> 00:31:30,400 voters that they are not just like, you know, laying 577 00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:38,400 down and accepting what's going on there. But it feels 578 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:43,920 to me like a session in which, you know, the 579 00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:48,079 most important players in the legislature on the Republican side 580 00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:51,519 are rowing in the same direction, and in which Democrats 581 00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:56,599 are sort of in the weakest position they've been in 582 00:31:56,599 --> 00:31:59,359 in this state for a considerable amount of time. I mean, 583 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:01,799 I'll just go back. I can talk about how you know, 584 00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:06,440 in the twenty nineteen session, we were coming off the 585 00:32:06,519 --> 00:32:10,039 betto Ork race, we were coming off this situation where 586 00:32:10,079 --> 00:32:12,599 we thought maybe in twenty twenty that Democrats might be 587 00:32:12,599 --> 00:32:14,799 able to flip the House. We are in a just 588 00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:18,119 completely different world right now. Democrats got trounced in the 589 00:32:18,119 --> 00:32:21,319 twenty four election. There was a poll that came out 590 00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:27,279 recently that showed Donald Trump plus eight approval rating in 591 00:32:27,319 --> 00:32:30,759 the early part of April compared to being minus eleven 592 00:32:30,839 --> 00:32:33,519 and twenty seventeen the first year of his first term. 593 00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:39,279 I mean, Democrats are just it's really bleak right now, 594 00:32:39,359 --> 00:32:42,240 and I think they're just looking for something, anything to 595 00:32:42,279 --> 00:32:46,240 point to a win. Whether they can find anything, I 596 00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:47,599 guess I have my doubts. 597 00:32:48,160 --> 00:32:48,359 Speaker 4: Yeah. 598 00:32:48,359 --> 00:32:50,920 Speaker 1: I mean it's kind of like for Democrats and these 599 00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:54,440 like further right Republicans, like their worst nightmare politically is 600 00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:56,119 the Big Three rowing in the same direction. 601 00:32:56,720 --> 00:32:58,400 Speaker 3: Then it's like, what do we need you guys? 602 00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:00,839 Speaker 1: And I think the We've talked about this a lot, 603 00:33:00,839 --> 00:33:03,759 but the interesting thing is, like, like Democrats have a 604 00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:10,279 significant ideological difference from leadership on how the state should 605 00:33:10,279 --> 00:33:11,839 be run, on what we should using our money for, 606 00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:14,519 and what we should be legislating period. The gap between 607 00:33:14,519 --> 00:33:17,839 what these grassroots conservatives want and what Burrows, Patrick and 608 00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:22,480 Abbott three very conservative elected officials are doing is not 609 00:33:22,599 --> 00:33:26,200 that vast, but we're seeing sort of equal degrees of 610 00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:29,640 attempted flamethrowing from each which is interesting. 611 00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:33,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, being authorn in the side of House leadership has 612 00:33:33,119 --> 00:33:36,759 been a successful strategy for a certain wing of Republican 613 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:40,119 if not for gaining power in the House, at least 614 00:33:40,119 --> 00:33:45,680 for you know, getting financial support and making you know, 615 00:33:46,039 --> 00:33:49,599 people happy and the like most activist wing in the party. 616 00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:53,880 And there are some people who seem to want to 617 00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:57,240 be kind of holding onto that playbook, even if you know, 618 00:33:57,359 --> 00:33:59,799 Dan Patrick, who might be the biggest representative of that, 619 00:34:00,359 --> 00:34:03,440 seems to be thinking like I can work with this guy, right. 620 00:34:04,319 --> 00:34:07,759 Speaker 1: I want to briefly talk about even a schism within 621 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:15,440 those more conservative in sometimes like their main tool is 622 00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:18,320 like the performance art of being a thorn. 623 00:34:18,079 --> 00:34:18,599 Speaker 3: In the side. 624 00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:22,280 Speaker 1: But even within that little cadre of people, there's been 625 00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:26,440 a schism which is between you know, our conservative lawmakers, 626 00:34:26,559 --> 00:34:32,639 the sort of House leadership and the poor bullied, beleaguered 627 00:34:33,039 --> 00:34:35,719 Brian Harrison, who has really become sort of like a 628 00:34:36,079 --> 00:34:37,519 side show of this whole session. 629 00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:39,280 Speaker 3: Kayla. 630 00:34:40,039 --> 00:34:45,559 Speaker 1: There was like a pretty explosive hearing where conservative Republican 631 00:34:45,599 --> 00:34:48,360 Jeff Leach as well as many other members of the 632 00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:50,519 committee really sort of took Harrison to task. 633 00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:52,960 Speaker 3: What's the backstory here on what's going on? 634 00:34:53,679 --> 00:34:56,679 Speaker 4: So Brian Harrison had his first bill ever this session, 635 00:34:56,800 --> 00:35:00,000 scheduled to be heard in committee and Jeff Leech's committee, 636 00:35:00,039 --> 00:35:02,480 I think it was the week before this encounter happened. 637 00:35:03,559 --> 00:35:06,440 Harrison was not there when Leech called him up to 638 00:35:06,519 --> 00:35:11,559 lay out his bill. Harrison said he was obviously voting 639 00:35:11,599 --> 00:35:14,960 in a different committee, and he accuses Jeff Leach of 640 00:35:15,159 --> 00:35:17,719 intentionally bringing up his bill while he wasn't there so 641 00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:20,159 he could put it aside and it wouldn't get to 642 00:35:20,199 --> 00:35:24,039 be heard that day. Leech said he texted him and 643 00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:26,960 didn't know it hadn't been told that he was voting 644 00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:29,480 in another committee. By the next week, it's on the 645 00:35:29,719 --> 00:35:34,599 agenda again. Harrison is facing this panel of lawmakers who 646 00:35:35,199 --> 00:35:37,599 again take him to town on what is in his 647 00:35:37,679 --> 00:35:40,559 bill and what it would do. It's a really testy 648 00:35:40,679 --> 00:35:43,280 back and forth. Leech steps in a couple of times, 649 00:35:43,599 --> 00:35:46,960 one to reprimand rep Harrison for being on his phone 650 00:35:47,760 --> 00:35:50,760 while members were questioning him. It's a really like tense 651 00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:55,199 and it seemed to be a somewhat cathartic interaction for 652 00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:59,320 the people on the panel. I mean it was Jeff, 653 00:35:59,599 --> 00:36:02,480 it was Democrats and Republicans were getting into Harrison because, 654 00:36:02,519 --> 00:36:03,800 I mean, as you said, he's been kind of a 655 00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:07,920 sideshow all this session. He's been complaining from day one 656 00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:10,719 that the House is not moving fast enough, that conservative 657 00:36:10,719 --> 00:36:14,000 priorities are not getting heard, that actually the budget is 658 00:36:14,039 --> 00:36:18,320 a liberal bloated budget, and everything that really conservative members 659 00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:22,239 are putting forward are actually liberal priorities, and Democrats are 660 00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:26,599 actually wielding power and running the show here. And he's 661 00:36:26,599 --> 00:36:28,519 been making all these complaints for a long time, and 662 00:36:28,559 --> 00:36:31,480 I think a lot of lawmakers were looking around saying, 663 00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:34,760 I've been working for twelve hours today. You know, I've 664 00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:38,440 been hearing my contituents. I've been in so many committee hearings. 665 00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:40,960 You know, I've been trying to work on my bills 666 00:36:40,960 --> 00:36:42,840 that I think are really conservative and really important. I 667 00:36:42,880 --> 00:36:44,639 don't know what you're talking about, but that is not 668 00:36:44,760 --> 00:36:47,880 helpful to me, and you are trying to You're putting 669 00:36:47,920 --> 00:36:51,199 all all of us on blasts on X as if 670 00:36:51,199 --> 00:36:53,039 we were all the same, as if we were all Democrats, 671 00:36:53,039 --> 00:36:55,519 and that's just not true, right, Rinzo, What are you 672 00:36:55,519 --> 00:36:59,199 hearing from lawmakers about how just how sick they are 673 00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:00,559 of representative and Harrison. 674 00:37:00,719 --> 00:37:03,440 Speaker 5: Yeah, well it's not just House leadership. I mean when 675 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:05,840 Brian Harrison was saying that, you know, this is the 676 00:37:05,880 --> 00:37:08,960 most liberal budget, then Dan Patrick Wade and he was 677 00:37:09,079 --> 00:37:11,079 saying that, you know, like some people just want to 678 00:37:11,119 --> 00:37:16,719 make news. And a few weeks ago I've lost track 679 00:37:16,760 --> 00:37:20,440 of time at this point, but when Brian Harrison tried 680 00:37:20,480 --> 00:37:27,719 to remove Burrows from the speakership and only got yeah, 681 00:37:27,760 --> 00:37:31,000 it was only him and one other rep. Who you know, 682 00:37:32,239 --> 00:37:34,519 you know, David Lowe. You know, he was kind of 683 00:37:35,039 --> 00:37:37,639 he'd been like Brian Harrison's wing man, like always buy 684 00:37:37,719 --> 00:37:40,960 him on the mic, you know, just like not even 685 00:37:41,159 --> 00:37:44,239 necessarily speaking on the mic, but just being there showing support, 686 00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:48,159 showing face. And you know, he sided with him on 687 00:37:48,559 --> 00:37:50,480 this one. He was the only one. And since then 688 00:37:50,519 --> 00:37:54,119 he's kind of stopped being at his side. And the 689 00:37:54,519 --> 00:37:57,079 word to hear from some of those conservative members is 690 00:37:58,639 --> 00:38:01,760 Brian Harrison is just and doing his own thing. Like 691 00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:04,840 they kind of they could have had a game plan 692 00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:09,079 when it came to removing Burroughs, and Brian Harrison just 693 00:38:09,159 --> 00:38:12,400 kind of busted through and pulled that on his own, 694 00:38:12,440 --> 00:38:15,039 and they didn't have support, you know, they didn't have 695 00:38:15,079 --> 00:38:19,320 a backup plan, and so I think that was kind 696 00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:22,119 of the straw that broke the camel's back. But it's 697 00:38:22,199 --> 00:38:25,159 kind of been festering longer than that. 698 00:38:25,800 --> 00:38:28,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, And they're like very very conservative members of the 699 00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:31,440 House who have like sort of gotten together around these 700 00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:33,320 issues of like our bills aren't getting passed, we're not 701 00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:35,840 you know, they're doing these strategic things and then very 702 00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:36,840 strategic Brian. 703 00:38:36,599 --> 00:38:38,000 Speaker 3: Harrison out on his own. 704 00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:40,119 Speaker 1: I think to some extent he wants to be like 705 00:38:40,360 --> 00:38:42,599 I was the only member to vote for to take that, 706 00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:46,840 you know, like he is not trying to in reality 707 00:38:46,840 --> 00:38:49,280 show parlance, he's not here to make friends. 708 00:38:50,519 --> 00:38:51,679 Speaker 5: Brian Harrison against the world. 709 00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:54,079 Speaker 1: Brian Harrison against the world, which makes it very easy 710 00:38:54,119 --> 00:38:55,840 to call us against him. 711 00:38:56,599 --> 00:38:57,000 Speaker 3: Yeah. 712 00:38:57,280 --> 00:39:00,239 Speaker 1: Yeah, it was like he's unlikely to, you know, on 713 00:39:00,239 --> 00:39:02,440 the vibes of that committee, like ever get a bill passed. 714 00:39:02,880 --> 00:39:04,480 Speaker 3: But he'll probably get re elected. 715 00:39:04,519 --> 00:39:07,760 Speaker 1: I think his constituents and his fan base on X 716 00:39:07,960 --> 00:39:09,039 like loves them. 717 00:39:09,239 --> 00:39:09,639 Speaker 4: Yeah. 718 00:39:09,679 --> 00:39:13,159 Speaker 2: Well, and a lot of his critics are suggesting that 719 00:39:13,280 --> 00:39:16,159 maybe getting reelected isn't the goal, but getting elected to 720 00:39:16,360 --> 00:39:19,079 Congress or another seat might be the goal as well. 721 00:39:19,280 --> 00:39:22,320 And you know, he has definitely been effective in a 722 00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:25,719 lot of different ways at getting public attention. You left 723 00:39:25,760 --> 00:39:27,400 out one other place where he got kind of wrapped 724 00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:30,320 on the knuckles, which was when he was questioning the 725 00:39:30,920 --> 00:39:34,760 head of the Texas Water Development Board over DEI policies too, 726 00:39:34,800 --> 00:39:37,719 which brought a red uke from if I'm not mistaken, 727 00:39:38,199 --> 00:39:42,079 all three of the Big three, right, It's been an 728 00:39:42,119 --> 00:39:46,000 interesting session because I think there have been these moments 729 00:39:46,000 --> 00:39:48,880 of sort of like public humiliation that feel like they've 730 00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:50,719 gone a little bit farther than they have in the past. 731 00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:53,360 I mean, the other example of this is the Brisco 732 00:39:53,519 --> 00:39:57,800 Caine bill that went up, you know, creating what like 733 00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:02,079 states City of Austin, Strict of Austin or whatever, taking 734 00:40:02,119 --> 00:40:05,239 away like, you know, local control from the City of Austin. 735 00:40:05,800 --> 00:40:07,920 They brought up that bill in a committee. It was 736 00:40:08,039 --> 00:40:11,639 voted down unanimously, and the lawmakers were just like cackling, 737 00:40:11,840 --> 00:40:15,199 laughing among themselves as they voted it down. And something 738 00:40:15,239 --> 00:40:17,320 that like I had just really never seen before in 739 00:40:17,440 --> 00:40:20,360 terms of just kind of you know, I don't think 740 00:40:20,440 --> 00:40:22,320 Kane was in the room when that happened, but it 741 00:40:22,400 --> 00:40:25,599 was you know, it definitely felt like a you know, 742 00:40:25,760 --> 00:40:28,480 kind of a brushback pitch from the legislature, so just 743 00:40:28,519 --> 00:40:31,960 a little bit spicier this time around in the House committees. 744 00:40:32,400 --> 00:40:35,239 Speaker 1: Yeah, it definitely feels like, you know, some sessions like 745 00:40:35,360 --> 00:40:37,360 the parents are fighting and the kids are just like 746 00:40:37,360 --> 00:40:39,800 along for the ride, and some this session the parents 747 00:40:39,840 --> 00:40:42,920 are all in agreement and the kids are tearing each 748 00:40:42,960 --> 00:40:46,440 other apart, and it's like, you know, it makes for 749 00:40:46,559 --> 00:40:51,039 a arguably like a more productive session when you know 750 00:40:51,079 --> 00:40:53,719 the parents are all in agreement and a slightly messier 751 00:40:53,760 --> 00:40:56,840 session when the kids are left their own devices to 752 00:40:57,119 --> 00:41:01,760 really go at each other's throats. Yeah, yeah, great, any 753 00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:04,480 let's do this right now. Everyone make a prediction and 754 00:41:04,480 --> 00:41:06,840 we'll come back at the end of the summer. 755 00:41:07,360 --> 00:41:10,679 Speaker 3: Are we going to have a special session? And if so, 756 00:41:11,440 --> 00:41:19,280 how many? Kaylie I'm saying noyla. No, Kayla is saying 757 00:41:19,280 --> 00:41:21,599 no special session. I think bail is. 758 00:41:21,199 --> 00:41:23,239 Speaker 4: Is you know, there's a pass forward on at TC 759 00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:24,920 is really the only thing I can think of that 760 00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:30,119 there is such a far clash, but a special over. 761 00:41:30,079 --> 00:41:33,639 Speaker 5: TCHC Apparently Dan Patrick is serious. 762 00:41:33,760 --> 00:41:37,400 Speaker 3: Come on, don't poke the bear now. 763 00:41:37,400 --> 00:41:39,760 Speaker 5: I'm putting no out there with you know, with Dan 764 00:41:39,760 --> 00:41:41,480 Patrick being serious, I'm going to put it at one 765 00:41:41,519 --> 00:41:46,159 special session, maybe not the most urgent special session, but 766 00:41:46,239 --> 00:41:47,719 a special session none the less, a. 767 00:41:47,639 --> 00:41:48,679 Speaker 3: Special session on the less. 768 00:41:48,760 --> 00:41:52,960 Speaker 2: Matthew, I'm going no. I think they'll they'll get somewhere 769 00:41:53,039 --> 00:41:55,440 on THHC. There's time to figure it out. I know 770 00:41:55,480 --> 00:41:57,960 they're pretty far apart, but there might be some middle 771 00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:00,679 ground there. And yeah, it just seems like it feels 772 00:42:00,719 --> 00:42:02,840 to me like a low drama session. These things, I 773 00:42:02,880 --> 00:42:04,480 feel like they alternate a lot, you know. 774 00:42:04,719 --> 00:42:07,679 Speaker 1: So all right, well then I will say yes as well. 775 00:42:07,760 --> 00:42:09,639 So we are two v two and we will come 776 00:42:09,679 --> 00:42:10,039 back at the. 777 00:42:10,079 --> 00:42:10,599 Speaker 3: End of the summer. 778 00:42:10,639 --> 00:42:13,920 Speaker 1: And how many, Oh, I'm gonna say one special session, 779 00:42:14,000 --> 00:42:15,880 Oh my god, one special. 780 00:42:15,519 --> 00:42:19,039 Speaker 2: Session where wins gets a one hundred dollars gift card 781 00:42:19,079 --> 00:42:21,800 to Big Dan's weed van on Congress. 782 00:42:23,079 --> 00:42:25,519 Speaker 1: That feels like a false promise for those of us 783 00:42:25,519 --> 00:42:26,800 who bet on a special. 784 00:42:26,480 --> 00:42:31,119 Speaker 3: Session that will fan teach. But yeah, we will leave 785 00:42:31,159 --> 00:42:32,000 it there for today. 786 00:42:32,960 --> 00:42:34,920 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for our guests for joining us, 787 00:42:34,920 --> 00:42:38,199 and Matthew for joining us from New Orleans. You can 788 00:42:38,199 --> 00:42:40,960 find all episodes of the Tribcast on YouTube or wherever 789 00:42:41,000 --> 00:42:43,880 you find your podcasts. Be sure to like, subscribe, and 790 00:42:43,920 --> 00:42:46,400 share the podcast on all of your platforms. If you'd 791 00:42:46,400 --> 00:42:48,000 like to get in touch with the team, you can 792 00:42:48,039 --> 00:42:52,239 reach us at Tribcast at Texastribune dot org. Thank you 793 00:42:52,280 --> 00:42:56,880 to our sponsors, the Safer Texas Alliance, protecting American consumers together, 794 00:42:57,280 --> 00:43:01,039 the Texas Managed Care Alliance, and the Lone Star Economic Alliance. 795 00:43:01,599 --> 00:43:04,639 Our producers are Rob Avula and Chris Phobada. Our theme 796 00:43:04,679 --> 00:43:07,400 music is composed by Rob and we will see you 797 00:43:07,800 --> 00:43:08,360 next week.