Here’s a quick recap of what happened over the last week:
Continued Hurricane Beryl Aftermath
CenterPoint executives met late last week with Gov. Abbott and were told that their timeline to replace utility poles, trim vegetation, and take other actions to avoid future mass power outages was not aggressive enough. Abbott said that the company must do more and do it faster. The proposal submitted to Abbott this week came in response to legislative hearings from both the House and Senate as well as a review by the Public Utility Commission. In response to the meeting, CenterPoint committed to “work urgently and take every possible action to re-earn your trust and that of the millions of people in the Greater Houston area who depend on us.”
The initial plan called for the trimming of trees and other vegetation around roughly 1,650 miles of power lines by the end of this calendar year. With the pushback from Abbott and other state officials, the company is now promising to have all vegetation cleared from 2,000 miles of power lines by the end of August. The company has now also committed to replace over 1,000 power poles by the end of August and will “harden” another 350 miles of lines to adhere to the most stringent wind resistant standards. Finally, CenterPoint promises to launch a new outage tracker that will allow customers to be better informed of when their power will be restored.
TWIA Increases Rates
The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association voted on Tuesday to increase rates by 10% on all residential and commercial policies to take effect in January. For a little background, TWIA is a non-profit association comprised of insurance companies that provide coverage for damage to property caused by wind and hail in the 14 counties that are adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico. It was created by the legislature in 1971 and has an estimated 250,000 policies in place. TWIA staff had recommended the rate increase after issuing a report that the current rate structure was not adequately covering the association’s expenses. Couple that with the estimated 27,000 valid claims that must be paid as a result of damage caused by Hurricane Beryl that could cost an estimated $200 million, which would amount to nearly half of the $450 million reserve fund TWIA had before Beryl made landfall.
Many irate residents and elected officials showed up at the hearing in Galveston on Tuesday to testify against the rate increase. TWIA’s average residential premium is currently $2,300 a year. The rate hike will add an average of $230 to the cost of the premium. Residents and elected officials pleaded with TWIA to shelve the proposed rate increase, saying the increase is not affordable in an economy where all costs of living have increased over the last two years. After the testimony, the TWIA board voted 6-3 to approve the 10% increase, saying they had no choice. They warned further that this may not be the final increase, with one board member saying that if another storm hits the Texas coast, the fund will be in a deficit situation.
Former Mayor Favorite for Congress
The campaign to replace the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee is in full swing now that the executive committee of the Harris County Democratic Party has set August 13th as the day they will make their selection for her successor. Former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner was the first to publicly declare his candidacy and seems to be the odds-on favorite to win the vote next week.
Since the primary election date has passed, a meeting of the precinct chairs in the party is necessary to name a replacement for Jackson Lee on the November ballot. The selection on Tuesday will be for the election on November 5th for the term to begin in January. Precinct chairs are elected heads of the individual voting precincts that are selected by the Democratic primary voters in each precinct. According to the Secretary of State’s office, this particular Congressional district has 214 precincts, but only 90 have active chairs.
In addition to former Mayor Turner, others that have either declared their candidacy or are rumored to be running are former Houston city councilwoman Amanda Edwards, whom Jackson Lee defeated in this year’s primary; state Rep. Jarvis Johnson and state Rep. Christina Morales; former city councilman Dwight Boykins; former city councilwoman Letitia Plummer; and Bishop James Dixon.
State Rep. Jolanda Jones was also considering the race, but announced on Monday that she was throwing her support to Turner. In addition to Rep. Jones, Turner has also received the endorsements of other Houston area House members including Rep. Senfronia Thompson, Rep. Harold Dutton, and Rep. Alma Allen. Turner also received the endorsement Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher of Houston and the children and family of Congresswoman Jackson Lee. In an interview with the Houston Chronicle this week, Turner said that if elected, he would serve no more than two terms in Congress. He said his goal is to serve as a “bridge from where we are right now” and pass the reins to a new generation of leadership. Turner completed eight years of service as Mayor of Houston in 2023 and served 27 years in the Texas legislature prior to his time as mayor.
Last Friday, Gov. Abbott set a special election for November 5th – the same day as the general election – to fill the remaining two months in the current term that ends on December 31st. Early voting for both the special and general elections will begin on October 20th.
Border News
The Biden administration has let a deadline expire for the federal government to appeal an earlier injunction regarding funding for the border wall. During the Trump administration, Congress allocated $1.4 billion for border wall construction. In 2021, the Biden administration tried to reallocate that funding and was sued by Texas and other states that claimed the attempted reallocation violated federal appropriations laws. In May of this year, a federal judge sided with the state of Texas, granting a temporary injunction against the reallocation of the funds, and gave the federal government 60 days to appeal the ruling. The Biden administration did not appeal the ruling during that 60-day window. Now, the federal government must continue to use the original $1.4 billion to resume construction of the border wall according to the original appropriation.
Gov. Abbott through executive order has ordered the Health and Human Services Commission to monitor and report the cost of treating undocumented immigrants in state public hospitals. The order also indicates the state will ask the federal government for reimbursement costs for the medical care. Hospitals will now be required to report quarterly the costs of treating patients that are not “lawfully present in the United States.” The agency will then provide an annual report to the legislature.
Sales Tax Holiday Weekend
The 2024 sales tax holiday begins today and lasts through the weekend. Qualifying items are exempt from the 6.25% state sales tax, which includes most shoes, clothes, and school supplies costing less than $100. There is no limit on the number of eligible items that can be purchased. Items can be purchased at retail outlets or online as long as the sale occurs this weekend. For a list of qualify items and more details on the sales tax holiday, visit the state Comptroller website: https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/publications/98-490/
Political Notes
Bexar County Republicans have filed a lawsuit against Kristian Carranza, who is challenging incumbent Republican Rep. John Lujan in one of the few swing House districts in the state. The party is claiming that Carranza has previously used her birth name of Thompson on official documents and literally scratched it out and used Carranza only when she decided to run for the House seat. The district – which runs from Universal City east of the city through areas south of downtown – is 64% Hispanic. Lujan flipped the seat from Democratic control in a 2021 special election and won reelection by nearly 4 points in 2022. Carranza calls the lawsuit “frivolous” and claims Carranza is her legal last name. She was legally born with the last name Thompson, but legally changed her name in 2023 after going by Carranza for nearly a decade.
Democratic Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg has endorsed incumbent Republican US Senator Ted Cruz in his reelection bid against Democratic challenger, Congressman Colin Allred. Ogg made the announcement earlier this week at a rally with Cruz in Houston. Ogg was defeated in the Democratic primary earlier this year which was attributed to her ongoing conflicts with many of the establishment Democratic officeholders in Houston including Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo. Ogg pointed to her and Cruz’s mutual desire to address the rising violent crime in the Houston area and throughout the state and her support of legislation that has been introduced by Cruz to keep migrants in custody when awaiting trial instead of releasing them on bond.
Speaker Dade Phelan this week announced House appointments to the Sunset Advisory Commission – the joint House/Senate legislative committee that periodically reviews state agencies for statutory changes. Phelan appointed Rep. Keith Bell of Forney as the chair for the House side along with Rep. Lacey Hull of Houston and Stan Kitzman of Wharton, both Republicans.
And finally, the state of Texas will allow Robert F Kennedy, Jr to be on the November election ballot for President. The Secretary of State has certified his petition that contained over 122,000 valid signatures. He needed at least 113,000 signers that had to be registered voters that did not vote in the March primary. Kennedy is now on the ballot in 16 states. The Democratic Party has given indications that it may sue to challenge the validity of the petition. Democrats are worried that Kennedy could take away votes from Kamala Harris and down ballot Democrats.
What’s Next??
The House Public Education Committee will meet Monday and Tuesday of next week to discuss vouchers, or education savings accounts as well as the effectiveness of Pre-K programs in schools.
The House Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee will meet on Thursday to discuss state interaction with federal border patrol agents.
And the House State Affairs Committee will meet on Friday to review state policy and oversight of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA).
Senate committees have nothing scheduled for the remainder of August.
Here is a link to the full list of hearings later this summer and fall, and the agenda for each hearing https://www.legis.state.tx.us