NEWS IN STATE GOVERNMENT
Governor:
Governor Greg Abbott Issues Eight Executive Orders in Response to El Paso and Odessa Shootings: Following the tragedies in El Paso and Odessa, Governor Greg Abbott today issued eight executive orders to help prevent further mass shootings by enhancing reporting requirements and ensuring law enforcement and the public have the training, tools, and resources they need to provide and respond to Suspicious Activity Reports. Click here to read the full proclamation.
Texas Deploys Resources to Florida To Assist with Disaster Response: Governor Greg Abbott has deployed assistance to the state of Florida in response to Hurricane Dorian, which is forecasted to impact the Florida coast. Click here to read the full news release.
Lt. Governor:
Lt. Governor Patrick Names Senate Select Committee on Mass Violence Prevention and Community Safety and Issues Committee Charges: Dan Patrick announced the members of the Senate Select Committee on Mass Violence Prevention and Community Safety and charged the bipartisan committee to study a series of issues in response to the recent mass shootings in El Paso and Midland/Odessa as well as previous mass shootings in Santa Fe, Sutherland Springs and Dallas. The members represent a wide geography and several have suffered mass shootings in their district. Click here to read the full news release.
Texas House and Senate Form Select Committees to address Violence and Improve Community Safety: Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and Speaker of the House Dennis Bonnen announced the formation of the Senate and House Select Committees on Mass Violence Prevention and Community Safety. Click here to read the full news release.
Attorney General:
AG Paxton Announces Medicaid Fraud Suit Against Opioid Manufacturer Johnson & Johnson: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that his office filed a civil Medicaid fraud lawsuit against pharmaceutical manufacturer Johnson & Johnson, and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., for misrepresentations made to the Texas Medicaid program about their dangerous opioid drug, Duragesic. Click here to read the full news release.
Comptroller:
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar Announces Revenue for Fiscal 2019, August State Sales Tax Collection: Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar today released totals for fiscal 2019 state revenues, in addition to announcing monthly state revenues for August. Click here to read the full news release.
General Land Office:
Expansion Grant Awarded to Coastal Bend Texas State Cemetery: Veterans Land Board (VLB) Chairman George P. Bush released the following statement celebrating the Department of Veterans Affairs grant to expand the Coastal Bend State Veterans Cemetery in Corpus Christi, Texas. The VA has awarded the VLB a grant of $1,966,125 for 100 percent of allowable costs for the expansion of the cemetery. Click here to read the full news release.
Railroad Commission:
Texas Oil and Gas Production Statistics for June 2019: Crude oil and natural gas production as reported to the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) for June 2019 came from 177,420 oil wells and 89,539 gas wells. Click here to read the full news release.
Environmental Quality:
Public Input Sought on Proposed Projects for About $360 Million in RESTORE Funds: TCEQ’s executive director, Toby Baker, welcomes the public to provide comment on proposed projects being considered as part of about $360 million of available RESTORE funding during meetings in Galveston and Corpus Christi next week. Click here to read more.
Health and Human Services:
HHS Works to Reduce Suicide Among Young Adults and Veterans: September is suicide prevention month. Texas is working toward preventing suicide among young adults and veterans in the state, highlighting the resources available to people at risk of suicide and offering support for loved ones who can help. Click here to read more.
OTHER NEWS
State Headlines:
Trib-Watch: Rural Texas and the 86th Legislature: We’re live-streaming a conversation in Lufkin with state Sen. Robert Nichols and state Rep. Trent Ashby. Join us for a conversation about public education, taxes, immigration, health care, spending and other consequential matters with two legislators representing rural Texas districts. Click here to listen and watch.
With Temperatures Expected to Hit the 100s, ERCOT Urges Texans to Reduce Electricity Usage: The Electric Reliability Council of Texas on Wednesday urged consumers and businesses to reduce their electricity usage Thursday and Friday. Click here to read the full Dallas Morning News article.
Rick Perry’s Energy Department Rolls Back Rules Requiring More Energy-Efficient Light Bulbs: Rick Perry’s Energy Department on Wednesday finalized new rules for certain specialty bulbs, rolling back requirements that would’ve soon required energy-saving models for globe-shaped bathroom lights, recessed reflector lights, track lighting and candle-shaped bulbs used in chandeliers. Click here to read the full Dallas Morning News article.
Sam Houston State’s Medical School Get Pre-Accreditation: Sam Houston State University has cleared one of the necessary hurdles for its proposed osteopathic medical college in Conroe. Subscribers can click here to read the full Houston Chronicle article.
That Huge Opioid Verdict? Watch Out — the Energy Industry is Next [Opinion]:Public nuisance claims traditionally have been limited to conduct interfering with truly public rights. For example, courts for decades have recognized public nuisance claims brought by governments to remove impediments from their public highways or waterways. Even then, courts generally did not recognize such claims where a legislature or administrative agency had already regulated an industry. Click here to read the full Houston Chronicle article.
Oil and Gas Bankruptcies Grow as Investors Lose Appetite for Shale: Bankruptcies are rising in the U.S. oil patch as Wall Street’s disaffection with shale companies reverberates through the industry. Click here to read the full Wall Street Journal article.
‘This is a historic day’: Breweries Packed as Texas Beer-to-go Law Kicks in: A new law that allows beer producers in Texas to sell beer to go went into effect Sunday. Click here to read the full Dallas Morning News article.
National Headlines:
Trump’s Hard Sell of American LNG: More than 30 liquefied natural gas import terminals are spread across Europe, so many that tankers coming in from Qatar, the United States and other LNG-producing nations are not nearly enough to meet the facilities’ capacity. Click here to read the full Houston Chronicle article.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Dates to Note:
Rep. Nevarez Fundraising Reception - The Austin Club Looney Suite
September 6, 2019 - 11AM
Representative Paddie Fishing Trip
September 9, 2019
Energy Trade Mission to Israel 2019
September 16, 2019 to September 20, 2019
September 26 - 28, 2019
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Stalwart Strategies Capitol Appreciation Party
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
The Belmont, Austin, TX
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Senator Watson’s Concert Under the Stars
October 3, 2019
MALC Annual Golf and Spa Day
October 7- 8, 2019
Texas House Republican Caucus Fall Golf Tournament
October 17 - 18, 2019
Texas Energy Summit at the Capitol
November 12 - 14, 2019
Click here for House of Representatives Capitol Events Calendar.
Click here for Texas Senate Capitol Events Calendar.
