Texas Progs Roundup: Smoke a little more and stronger?

Plenty of good nuttery, and a few items of good news, about and from the Texas Legislature this week, and we had municipal elections and a special election.

Plenty of fun to dive into.

So, let's dig in.

The Gov

Strangeabbott appears to have had a bigger personal hand in the Abbott Blackout's ERCOT pricing sticker shock than previously revealed.

The Lege

SocraticGadfly sees a mix of hypocrisy, unconstitutionality and Pander Bear from Texas Senate Legiscritters.

The Observer has the latest on Briscoe Cain's clownery and other things, like permitless carry. As hinted there, it wouldn't surprise me if permitless carry loses there, even with Danny Goeb's special purpose committee.

Most Texas cops still don't want permitless carry.

The House has passed Senfronia Thompson's three police reform bills. At least one will have heavy uphill sledding in the Senate.

The Lege is perhaps feeling the heat from New Mexico's full legalization and the Okies Lege's talk about going national with its medical marijuana. The House has passed legislation that would give Texas something like a medical marijuana program. Another bill would cut minor possession to a Class B misdemeanor. Still not a Class C, but something.

Texas officials caved to the feds and will release COVID school funding to local districts without clawing back an equal amount of normal state school funds.

 

Emily Eby tweets about House Election Committee shenanigans so you don't have to. 

 

Reform Austin celebrates a rare good bill in the Lege. 

 

The Austin Chronicle reports on an organized legal pushback against the latest wave of anti-abortion bills.

Census and redistricting

Did the Lege's refusal to spend money to spur counting efforts cost it a Congressional seat, as it eventually gained "just two" and not three seats in the Census?

 

David Beard looks at how the apportionment numbers may affect future Congressional elections.

Off the Kuff looks deeper at that issue, noting how the state of Texas fell short of projections in getting only two more Congressional districts from the 2020 apportionment.

 

Other Texas

School students in many cultures besides African-Americans may feel their culture is slighted by Texas textbooks. Count Palestinians among them.

Sid Miller, as a private citizen, is suing Biden over his admin's new ag relief program. And, of course, a Stephen Miller lobby shop is supporting the suit. A group of White farmers is also suing. They all of course ignore that (as Shirley Sherrod knew, and her Obama-era nemesis now returned to run Biden's Ag, Tom Vilsack, either didn't know or ignored), that USDA long practiced redlining and other discrimination.

Metromess

Nutter Lily Bao has lost on her mayoral effort to "Make Plano Great Again."

Another true nutter, Sery Kim, failed to make the runoff for CD6, which will pit Ron Wright's widow Susan and Jake Elizey, as Dems also failed to make the runoff. Dem Jana Sanchez was third; never Trumper Michael Wood was well back.

Belated RIP to Metroplex radio legend Ron Chapman.

Other local

The City Neoliberal, Austin, passed Prop B and again banned homeless encampments, but homelessness is still around. (And, that's the worse, not the "dehoused" used by High Country News.)

 

Texana

 

Texas Highways fellates the third-biggest business cult in Tex-ass and gives us 24 hours in the life of Buc-ee's.

National

Troy Nehls wants to help Status Quo Joe on police reform.

Florida Republicans now wonder if they shot themselves in the foot on voting restrictions, especially vote by mail ones.

Global

Mondoweiss, in a piece by founder Philip Weiss (which follows several others last week) has the details of Human Rights Watch naming Israel an apartheid state (and arguably a worse one than South Africa).

Science

Fascinating Smithsonian piece here. If you're familiar with what chimeras are, namely a human fetus that has absorbed another in the womb, the discovery that moms can become chimeras from their fetuses is ... fascinating.