MRT 4/29-30/25 (free): Rival Water Funding Bills Near // #TXLEGE Moves to Prevent Future Veto Sprees // Homeless Enforcement Bills Gain Steam // Lottery Bans 3rd Party Couriers

MustReadTexas.com – @MustReadTexas
BY: @MattMackowiak 

Subscribe to the daily email here.

TUESDAY | 4/29/2025 & WEDNESDAY | 4/30/2025

Good Wednesday morning.
Thank you for reading as a FREE subscriber.

» Become a PAID subscriber for $7/mo or $70/yr here and you will SAVE TIME and be BETTER INFORMED.

PLEASE NOTE: You are receiving the PAID subscriber version of the Must Read Texas email — for ONE DAY ONLY — so you can see what you are missing.

Free subscribers receive headlines and links only, while PAID subscribers receive story summaries to SAVE TIME and be BETTER INFORMED.

» Become a PAID subscriber for $7/mo or $70/yr here.

“If something of importance is known in Texas, Matt knows it. With a decline in the number of credible news organizations, the Must Read Texas morning email is indispensable for anyone that wants to continue to be informed.” – Former U.S. Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX)

AUSTIN NEWSLETTER LAUNCHED

Are you one of the 100,000+ subscribers to ATX Pulse, a newsletter that delivers EVERYTHING you NEED TO KNOW about Austin?

Subscriptions are $5/mo, $50/yr or $199/lifetime here: ATXpulsepremium.com.

> Read the most recent FREE subscriber email here.
> Become a PAID subscriber for $5/mo or $50/yr here.

• #TXLEGE

"The Texas House wants voters to approve billions to save the state’s water supply,” Texas Tribune's Jayme Lozano Carver -- "The Texas House on Tuesday approved a key piece of legislation that brings Texas one step closer to investing $1 billion annually to address the state’s water shortage.

House Joint Resolution 7, led by state Rep. Cody Harris, R-Palestine, was overwhelmingly approved by the lower chamber, 138-6. Tuesday’s vote sets the proposal on a path to voters. If the Senate also approves it, voters will be asked in November to approve the spending, which comes from the state’s sales tax.

The Senate has a similar proposal, asking voters for dedicated funding. However, it spells out how the money is to be used. Written by state Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, Senate Joint Resolution 66 calls for 80% of the $1 billion to go toward projects that create new water supply, such as desalination or produced water treatment plants. The remaining 20% would be split among several programs that address other needs, including infrastructure upgrades for aging pipes, drinking water and wastewater treatment plants.

» BECOME A PAID SUBSCRIBER: $7/mo

Harris’ House resolution does not specify how the billions should be spent. The Texas Water Development Board, the state agency that helps manage the state’s water, would determine how the money is allocated. Harris told lawmakers the Legislature will work with the board on those decisions, but the board will decide. He also presented an amendment that protects existing groundwater supply, stating the new water supply fund could not be used for groundwater projects unless it’s brackish groundwater.

On the House floor Tuesday, Harris said the Legislature has the opportunity to address Texas’ growing water needs by passing the resolution.

“This is an incredible opportunity for us to tackle this issue,” Harris said.

» BECOME A PAID SUBSCRIBER: $70/yr

Texas water supply faces several threats, including a growing population, climate change and leaking infrastructure. Texas does not have enough water to meet demand in the case of a historic drought, according to state data. The situation will become dire if the hundreds of projects detailed in the state water plan are not completed.

Another piece of sweeping legislation, Senate Bill 7, is making its way through the legislative process. Also written by Perry, it covers a wide range of water needs and issues. The Senate unanimously approved it earlier this month. However, Harris made changes to the bill while it was in a House committee. The changes were celebrated by the state’s water community. If the House approves the bill, the two chambers will have to reconcile the differences to pass the legislation forward.

During a debate on the House Floor, state Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, objected to dedicated funding for water needs. Harrison argued the money should be going to property tax relief. Harris disagreed and argued that securing the state's water supply was an economic imperative.

“The Texas economy will come to a screeching halt,” Harris said, evoking the link between the state’s water supply and economy that fuels the state’s budget.

Members of the state’s water community celebrated the bill’s passage. Jennifer Walker, director of the Texas Coast and Water program for the National Wildlife Federation, called it a historic win for Texas." Texas Tribune

"Greg Abbott went on a veto spree last session. Now lawmakers are trying to rein him in,” Texas Tribune's Joshua Fechter -- "Lawmakers are working to give themselves more power to override Gov. Greg Abbott’s vetoes after the Texas Republican two years ago axed dozens of bills passed with broad bipartisan support in an apparent act of political retribution.

The proposal by Republican state Sen. Brian Birdwell would let lawmakers return to Austin after the session ends to reconsider certain bills the governor vetoes. Right now, only the governor has the power to call lawmakers back and regularly rejects legislation once they’re gone.

Birdwell described the effort as a way to “restore the checks and balances of Texas government” and said it wasn’t inspired by Abbott. But the governor’s move last session to veto 76 bills after his priorities failed to pass – the second-most ever issued by a governor – seems to have given the effort new momentum.

“It was indiscriminate,” said Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, an Austin Democrat backing the bill. “He didn’t even bother to put a fig leaf on them.”

The bill, which cleared the Senate unanimously last month and is now up for debate in the House, is a rare example of the Republican-controlled legislature seeking to roll back some of the governor’s power. And it comes as lawmakers are also advancing policy that would boost the Legislature’s ability to check the governor’s emergency powers, also authored by Birdwell. Both measures would amend the state constitution, meaning Texans would ultimately get the final say.

Abbott has not commented on either proposal, and his office did not respond to requests for comment.

The veto bill would give the legislature more time to override vetoes, something it very rarely has the opportunity to do now.

While the constitution already allows lawmakers to override vetoes with a two-thirds majority, the governor has 20 days to veto bills after the Legislature adjourns, and governors often wait until lawmakers are out of town to issue their vetoes. Only the governor can call lawmakers back for a special session, so they can easily ax bills without lawmakers ever getting a shot at overturning their decision.

The Legislature has only overridden 26 vetoes in the history of the state, said Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University. It has not done so since 1979.

“By the time he’s required to move, the Legislature is gone,” Jillson said. “That is a reasonable separation of powers issue.”

The new proposal would create an automatic override session of the Legislature for vetoed bills that had two-thirds support in at least one chamber.

Virtually all of the bills Abbott vetoed in 2023 met that mark. All but one received two-thirds support in one chamber and 72 of them earned two-thirds support in both the House and Senate, according to research by state Sen. Birdwell, a Granbury Republican leading the effort to give lawmakers a chance to override such vetoes.

They included bills that would have required Family and Protective Services Council meetings be broadcast online, created new public reporting requirements for campaign donations and made it easier for students looking to re-enroll in colleges to clear their past academic performance to have a clean academic record.

Abbott was clear at the time that he didn’t disagree with the underlying policy of many of the bills, and said he was blocking them because the Legislature did not pass school vouchers and property tax relief legislation he sought that session.

His message on each veto memo was the same: “This bill can be reconsidered at a future special session only after property tax relief is passed.”

Birdwell said if the Legislature disagrees, lawmakers ought to have the ability to act.

“Because right now, there are 76 bills that have been filed again because they were vetoed last session that we're having to work on again,” Birdwell said during a committee hearing on the bill last month. “And legislation that was passed by an overwhelming majority, such as two-thirds, reflects the importance of that issue to the constituents of the state.”

Abbott has wielded his veto power more in recent years as a tool to force lawmakers back to the negotiating table. In 2021, he used line-item vetoes to zero out funding for the Legislature after Democrats skipped town to derail GOP-backed voting restrictions.

Jillson said Abbott is not alone in deploying the veto in a political manner. Former Gov. Rick Perry holds the record for the most vetoes in one session, with 83 in 2001.

“It is frequently used for punishing people who have gotten sideways of you,” Jillson said." Houston Chronicle ($)

"Advocates fear Texas lawmakers are about to worsen the state’s homelessness crisis,” Texas Tribune's Joshua Fechter -- "As thousands of Texans sleep on the streets, Republicans in the Texas Legislature have pushed proposals that advocates worry will only worsen the state’s homelessness crisis.

GOP lawmakers have advanced bills to force cities to beef up their enforcement of a statewide ban on homeless encampments and prevent organizations that provide services to the homeless from setting up shop near schools. They’ve also pushed legislation that housing advocates fear will accelerate evictions, potentially driving up homelessness as a result.

As the state’s housing costs rose in recent years, so did the number of people experiencing homelessness. Nearly 28,000 Texans did not have a permanent roof over their heads last year, according to federal estimates — about an 8% increase from the year before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of those, more than 12,000 were unsheltered — meaning they lived outside, in their cars or in other places not fit for human habitation.

Homeless advocates say proposals that have gained traction in the Legislature so far do little if anything to address the root causes of the state’s homelessness crisis — chiefly its shortage of affordable homes — and would make it harder for unhoused people to get out of homelessness.

“A lot of legislators feel like the cities aren’t doing their job,” said Eric Samuels, who heads the Texas Homeless Network. “The presumption is they’re not already working to prevent and end homelessness, which is far from the case.”

Chief among those proposals is a stiffening of the state’s ban on homeless encampments. Gov. Greg Abbott signed the ban into law four years ago — and the U.S. Supreme Court effectively upheld it last year. But homeless encampments remain visible, driving frustration among lawmakers.

Senate Bill 241 — authored by state Sen. Pete Flores, a Pleasanton Republican — aims to compel localities to show stricter enforcement of the ban. Under the bill, cities and counties would have to set up a process to allow residents to file formal complaints if they suspect a violation of the camping ban. If a city or county doesn’t resolve that complaint within 90 days, the state attorney general could declare it a “violating local entity.” The state would then step in to resolve the complaint and recoup the costs of clearing encampments from that city or county’s sales taxes.

“It’s already against the law,” Flores said during a March committee hearing. “They’re just not enforcing it.”

The bill cleared the Senate earlier this month by a 22-8 vote, largely along partisan lines, and awaits a committee hearing in the House.

Much of lawmakers’ ire has been directed at Austin. City leaders there relaxed restrictions on public encampments in 2019 — and an uptick in the number of people experiencing street homelessness prompted Austin voters to reinstate the city’s camping ban. State lawmakers quickly followed enacting a statewide ban, which makes sleeping outside or camping on public property a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $500 fine.

Since 2021, Austin has issued nearly 1,300 citations for violations of the camping ban and related violations, city data show.

As encampments remain visible and the city fields hundreds of complaints a month related to homelessness, there’s frustration and hunger for greater enforcement of the ban.

“The simple fact is that (the camping ban) is not being enforced in the city of Austin,” said Matt Mackowiak, who co-founded the group Save Austin Now, which put the city’s camping ban on the ballot in 2021. “Anyone that spends more than 30 minutes in Austin knows that and sees that.”

Ticketing people experiencing homelessness for camping violations is counterproductive, homeless service providers and advocates have long argued. If someone can’t afford to pay for housing, they likely can’t afford a $500 fine. Fining them can make it more difficult to escape homelessness — especially if they don’t show up for their court hearing, prompting arrest warrants and creating criminal histories that can make housing and employment nearly unobtainable. In Austin, the ban effectively forced people experiencing homelessness out of the city center, where they could more easily access necessary services and into places like neighborhoods and parks.

Some major Texas cities have reduced the number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in recent years. Officials in Houston and Dallas have focused reduction efforts on quickly finding new housing for people living in encampments and other places that aren’t suitable for living while connecting them with support services. Those cities saw street homelessness fall by more than 25% from 2019 to 2024, federal figures show.

Under that strategy, ticketing people experiencing homelessness is often unnecessary, said Sarah Kahn, CEO of Housing Forward, the lead agency in charge of tackling homelessness in Dallas and Collin counties. That’s because they’ve either been connected to services or law enforcement authorities have made it clear that camping at those sites will no longer be tolerated, she said.

Homeless advocates also worry that a proposal billed as cracking down on squatters will result in more people experiencing homelessness. Senate Bill 38 would speed up the eviction process and reduce legal protections for the state’s 4.2 million renter households, tenants’ advocates have said. Those facing eviction face a higher risk of becoming homeless, researchers have found. Homeless service providers worry the bill would accelerate evictions and lead to higher levels of homelessness.

“The more people that we evict, the more people who are going to fall into homelessness,” Samuels said. “It’s that simple.”

Landlord groups like the Texas Apartment Association have pushed the bill to deal with what they’ve said is an uptick in encounters with squatters — and difficulty under existing law getting them to vacate their property. The bill’s opponents argue that squatting cases are rare and don’t necessitate relaxing tenant protections against eviction.

State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican who authored the bill, dismissed concerns that the legislation could spur an increase in homelessness.

“The only way to get rid of [squatters] is to speed up the eviction process,” Bettencourt said in an interview.

Senators approved the bill, 21-8, in April, and it awaits a committee hearing in the House.

Meanwhile, bills that advocates say could help people escape homelessness have yet to hit the floor in either chamber — like a proposal to help people experiencing homelessness regain crucial personal identification documents such as birth certificates and driver’s licenses.

A bill by state Sen. Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound, would require the state’s six largest counties to set up crisis service centers to provide mental health services for people experiencing homelessness. About 22% of homeless Texans suffer from a severe mental illness, federal data shows. Parker’s bill, which has been left pending in committee, would help address a population whose needs are often difficult — if not impossible — to meet, Kahn said." Texas Tribune

"Texas Senate OKs effort to clarify medical exceptions under state’s abortion ban,” AP's Nadia Lathan -- "The Texas Senate approved changes Tuesday to the state’s strict abortion ban that both Republicans and Democrats say would clarify medical exceptions and has drawn support from women who were told they could not end their pregnancies despite life-threatening complications.

The unanimous passage of the bill in the GOP-controlled Senate — by a 31-0 vote — marked a rare moment of bipartisanship on an issue that for years has roiled the state Capitol as Texas Republicans have defended one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion bans and launched criminal investigations into alleged violations.

Under Senate-passed changes, Texas’ ban would specify that doctors are allowed to perform an abortion if a patient is experiencing a “life-threatening” condition capable of causing death, and “not necessarily one actively injuring the patient.” The bill would also require doctors to receive training on the revised law.

If approved by the state House and signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, the revisions would mark the first time Texas lawmakers have modified language in the near-total abortion ban since it took effect after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

“We know there are cases where moms who should have been treated were denied treatment,” Republican state Sen. Bryan Hughes said on the floor of the chamber before the vote, urging lawmakers to adopt changes that make the law “crystal clear.”

Texas’ ban would still have no exception in cases of rape or incest and the law would not spell out specific medical exceptions, which Senate Democrats noted even as they said they would support it and predicted it would save lives.

“I will vote for it, but this policy is no less cruel for being made clear,” Democratic state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt said.

Republican lawmakers in Kentucky passed a similar bill in March that added specific medical exceptions to the state’s ban, which also prohibits all abortions except in medical emergencies. Last year, South Dakota released an instructional video for doctors to clarify the state’s abortion restrictions.

The Texas bill comes following years of the state’s abortion ban successfully navigating court challenges and scrutiny from doctors and abortion rights advocates. The advocates say the state’s laws are too vague when defining what is considered a “life-threatening condition.”

Hughes, who is one of the architects of the state’s stringent abortion ban, said he introduced the bill to “remove any doubt” that doctors can perform an abortion when the mother’s life is at risk.

Texas law currently prohibits all abortions, including in cases of rape or incest, except in instances to save the life of the mother. Physicians can face up to 99 years in prison and be fined up to $100,000 if they perform an illegal abortion."" AP

"Wide-ranging crackdown on abortion pills passes Texas Senate,” Texas Tribune's Eleanor Klibanoff -- "Anyone who manufactures, mails or delivers abortion pills to someone in Texas could be sued for $100,000 under a bill that preliminarily passed the Senate on Tuesday. The bill, considered the most wide-ranging crackdown on abortion-inducing drugs in the country, is expected to face a harder road in the House.

The bill expands on the private enforcement mechanism Texas used to outlaw most abortions in 2021 by allowing private lawsuits against anyone who mails or delivers abortion pills, including medication manufacturers. It also expands when and how people can sue for wrongful death after an abortion, creates criminal and civil penalties for paying for an abortion, and goes after internet providers that host information on abortion pills and financial services that facilitate transactions.

After Texas banned abortion, many people turned to online pharmacies and out-of-state providers to obtain medication to terminate their pregnancies despite the bans. Republicans have tried to crack down on this practice through lawsuits and legislation, but this bill, Senate Bill 2880, would give the state a whole new set of tools to tackle the issue.

“These are the pills that are being mailed into Texas directly to women, often without instructions, certainly without doctors as before, and without follow-up care after,” bill author Sen. Bryan Hughes, a Republican from Mineola, said Tuesday. “This is illegal in Texas, but is taking place, and we've thus far not been able to protect women.”

For Sen. Nathan Johnson, a Dallas Democrat and lawyer, the bill is just as legally questionable as the behavior it purports to restrict. He said on the floor Tuesday that it’s a “flagrant, brazen transgression of the principles … on which this country and state was founded.”

Johnson questioned Hughes for almost 40 minutes, not on abortion, but on the bill’s impact on the state’s jurisprudence. The bill, as written, cannot be challenged in state court before it goes into effect, and would allow someone to sue a state court judge for $100,000 if they rule that the law is unconstitutional.

“If there is a judge who is having to defend herself or himself under this provision, they may not receive or obtain legal representation from the attorney general,” Johnson noted. “Now that's not very nice, is it?”

“Ignoring the law is not very nice when the Legislature specifically sets it out in a way that's clear and unequivocal,” Hughes retorted.

The bill is also designed to disincentivize lawyers from bringing constitutional challenges against the legislation by making them financially liable for legal fees for both sides in almost all cases.

“The intent is to be a very strong and unequivocal statement to those who would ship these pills into Texas that, don't do that,” Hughes said. “This is a strong statement about these pills and their harm to little babies and to women. It's strong.”

The bill also extends the statute of limitations for an abortion-related wrongful death case to six years, far longer than the typical two years for torts." Texas Tribune

"Proposals to give state AG more power move through Texas Legislature,” Dallas Morning News' Nolan D. McCaskill -- "Attorney General Ken Paxton and his office could have expanded authority under a quartet of bills moving through the Texas Legislature.

Three proposals have already passed the Senate. The fourth could clear the chamber as soon as this week.

In the House, two bills have advanced out of committee. Another is awaiting a committee vote, and the fourth measure has not yet had a hearing.

Here’s what the legislation would do:

Restore power to prosecute election crimes

The most controversial bill, Senate Bill 1026, was amended Tuesday and advanced by a preliminary 19-12 vote.

The bill would require the attorney general to prosecute criminal election law offenses in cases where local law enforcement finds probable cause of a violation but the local prosecuting attorney hasn’t initiated prosecution proceedings within six months.

The legislation attempts to restore the attorney general’s power to prosecute election laws. Citing state law and the Texas Constitution, the Court of Criminal Appeals ruled in 2021 that the attorney general “can prosecute with the permission of the local prosecutor but cannot initiate prosecution unilaterally.”

In a concurring opinion published in September 2022, Judge Scott Walker warned that a ruling empowering the Legislature to give the attorney general “unfettered power to prosecute all election cases” would give future attorneys general the power to bring fabricated criminal charges against any candidate with different political ideals.

Walker advised legislative passage and voter ratification of a constitutional amendment as a potential remedy for those who disagree with the court’s opinion. Rather than amend the Texas Constitution, however, the bill would change state law to circumvent the court’s ruling.

The Senate bill was amended to address concerns raised at a March committee hearing, where Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, cautioned that the legislation as written could mistakenly force the attorney general to prosecute even when he agrees with a district attorney’s decision not to do so.

“The original language in the bill could be read to say that the AG must prosecute every case rather than investigate and exercise the AG’s discretion,” Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, said Tuesday. “This makes it clear that the AG maintains prosecutorial discretion on whether to pursue formal charges after investigation.”

The Senate could pass the bill as early as Wednesday. A House committee heard testimony on identical legislation last week.

At the House State Affairs Committee hearing, Democrats and two public witnesses questioned the bill’s legality.

“The Legislature can’t grant the authority to the AG to prosecute criminal cases absent a constitutional amendment when [the Texas Constitution] clearly vests that power in county and district attorneys,” said Andrew Hendrickson, government relations coordinator with the ACLU of Texas.

Rep. Matt Shaheen, R-Plano, said he discussed the measure with Paxton’s office, ran it by an election law attorney and wrote the legislation with the court ruling in mind.

“This will probably get litigated,” said Shaheen, the bill’s author. “The Legislature often presses the lines, and items are resolved in court. I will tell you, I’ve had legal counsel look at this. And they believe it’s solid and will prevail if and when it’s challenged.”

Establish a permanent election integrity division

The Senate passed SB 318 on April 1. It was referred to the House State Affairs Committee last week but has not been scheduled for a hearing.

The bill would create an election integrity division inside the attorney general’s office to investigate allegations of election fraud and other violations. The new division would have the authority to issue administrative subpoenas to political subdivisions in the state to compel witness testimony and the production of documents for its investigations.

“While the office of the attorney general currently has attorneys who investigate Election Code violations, it lacks a dedicated division for handling these cases,” Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, said earlier this month. “As a result, there is no guarantee that reports of election fraud will be investigated with priority.”

During the April 1 debate, Democratic Sens. Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio and Royce West of Dallas repeatedly questioned the aim of Creighton’s bill, suggesting that — coupled with SB 1026 — the legislation would expand the authority of Paxton’s office to both investigate and prosecute election crimes.

“This bill is not tied to prosecution,” Creighton said at the time. “It’s tied to investigation.”

Gutierrez said the bill is “redundant, superfluous and already exists in law.” West said SB 1026 would give Creighton’s legislation “more teeth.”

At a Senate State Affairs Committee hearing in March, an official from the attorney general’s office described election cases as seasonal, likening the work to summer lifeguard duty.

“Election integrity crimes generally develop in and around election seasons,” said Geoff Barr, chief of the attorney general office’s election integrity division. “And so those are when the complaints come in. Those are when the investigations start. There are times … where we don’t have cases to prosecute. So to be good stewards of the taxpayers’ resources, we have taken assignments from the criminal prosecutions division of traditional crimes in support.”" DMN ($)

• STATE GOVERNMENT

“'We set the rules': Texas regulators defend $5B program for gas plants after withdrawals, denials,” KVUE's Ben Sawyer — "Texas utility regulators are defending the state’s $5 billion fund for new natural gas power plants after numerous projects have dropped out of the taxpayer-backed loan program.

Companies that have withdrawn projects from the Texas Energy Fund have cited a variety of market challenges, such as supply chain delays and permitting uncertainty, that even access to state subsidies can’t help them overcome. Others have more directly blamed the program's requirements, saying the rules make their projects not worth pursuing.

But staff with the Public Utility Commission of Texas framed the dropouts differently, pointing to the withdrawn and denied projects as a sign that the state agency in charge of the fund is fulfilling its duty to safeguard taxpayer dollars.

Tracie Tolle, the PUC’s Texas Energy Fund director, said at the agency’s Thursday meeting that several applicants have withdrawn from the program “because some of our requirements to protect these taxpayer dollars are really stringent.”

Other companies have been denied funding because PUC staff found issues with those applications and didn’t believe loan agreements could be reached in time to satisfy the program’s deadlines, Tolle said.

Commissioner Kathleen Jackson was more blunt.

“These are taxpayer dollars, this is our program, and we set the rules,” Jackson said at the meeting. “At the end of the day, you have to have the ability to repay, and you have to have the ability to execute.”

Commissioners also advanced four more projects, two from Invenergy and two from Nightpeak Energy LLC, to the agency’s due diligence review process to backfill the applications that have left the program.

Including the four additions, the 18 projects under review total 9,218 megawatts of new electricity generation. That’s just short of the Texas Energy Fund’s goal to incentivize 10,000 megawatts of capacity, enough to power up to 2.5 million homes during peak demand times." Houston Chronicle ($)

“Texas lottery bans online sales through third-party couriers amid mounting criticism,” Texas Tribune's Ayden Runnels — "The Texas Lottery Commission unanimously voted Tuesday to ban lottery courier companies from selling tickets online amid lawmakers’ ongoing criticism of the practice. The vote was an about-face for the agency, whose officials previously claimed the commission could not regulate the services.

Couriers are third-party services that sell lottery tickets through websites or apps, then print and scan the tickets at licensed lottery retailers that they usually also own. The businesses have operated in Texas for almost a decade, but have recently drawn legislators’ ire. Lawmakers fear such online sales enable illegal purchases by out-of-state or underage players.

The ban allows the commission to immediately revoke the lottery license of any retailer that knowingly assists or works with couriers. Lawmakers are currently weighing legislation that would impose similar restrictions.

Sergio Rey, the commission’s acting deputy executive director, said the agency’s administrative branch would immediately begin enforcing the new rules.

Lawmakers and other state officials are pursuing legislation and investigations based on two central issues: the proliferation of third-party lottery ticket couriers and a $95 million jackpot in 2023 won by a single group buying out almost every possible ticket combination.

Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office and the Texas Rangers, a division of the Department of Public Safety, are each currently conducting investigations into the lottery’s relationship with courier services.

Amid the mounting scrutiny, Ryan Mindell resigned as the commission’s executive director last week. Commissioner Clark Smith resigned in February.

Ticket sales from couriers collectively make up less than 10% of the lottery’s revenue. But the companies’ ability to market to a wider digital audience has allowed some couriers to individually outsell specific traditional retailers, like local convenience stores. Stores operated by Jackpocket and Lotto.com, the nation’s two largest couriers, collectively sold over $226 million in tickets through 2024, while the top five traditional retailers collectively sold $34 million.

Lotto.com filed a lawsuit less than a week before the lottery commission’s decision asking a judge to block the rule from being approved. There has been no ruling on that request.

Lawmakers, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, have also criticized a practice called bulk purchasing, which occurs when nearly all of a lottery game’s possible combinations are purchased by a single entity for an almost-guaranteed win. In April 2023, an overseas group worked with several retailers and one lottery courier service to buy 99% of the nearly 26 million ticket combinations, winning a $95 million jackpot." Texas Tribune

• LOCAL GOVERNMENT

“Amid budget crunch, Austin's homeless strategy office says it needs $100 million,” Austin American-Statesman's Ella McCarthy — "Anticipating a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall, the Austin City Council earlier this year directed city staffers to examine how much money would be needed to continue existing homelessness services.

The answer, according to the city's Homeless Strategy Officer David Gray, is $22.95 million. That sum would cover key operations, including a city-owned emergency shelter in Southeast Austin that serves nearly 300 people each night, Gray told a committee of City Council members during a presentation on Monday.

But Gray said his office needs much more than that — $100.45 million in total — if the city wants to continue making significant progress. He said the city should consider contributing $67.25 million and cover the remaining $33.2 million by soliciting philanthropic donations and other external sources of funding.

That sum would allow the city to address an ongoing shortage in shelter beds — there is only one bed available for every five people who need one — and to expand permanent supportive housing services.

The investment, Gray said, would lead to "a measurable reduction in unsheltered homelessness in our community."

Gray's figures come as the city is facing a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall thanks to a trifecta of major financial challenges: the looming expiration of federal COVID-19 relief dollars, a state-imposed limit on property tax increases and now a possible drop in federal support under the Trump administration and a Republican-controlled U.S. Congress.

Of the $180 million the city received in pandemic stimulus, it dedicated nearly half to combating homelessness, but those dollars are expiring at the end of 2026.

City leaders have already projected a $33 million deficit in the general fund — the pot of money that pays for homeless services as well as for other city departments like police and fire. Property taxes are the largest revenue driver for the general fund.

City budget czar Kerri Lang said Monday it's unlikely the city would be able to cover Gray's request through budget cuts alone. That means that if the council wants to find funding, the city would likely have to ask voters for help, she said.

A possible tax-rate election has come up several times during budget discussions in recent months, but city leaders have yet to make a decision about whether to pursue one." AAS ($)

• 2025

“Who’s behind the PAC money flowing into San Antonio mayor’s race?” San Antonio Express-News' Molly Smith — "PACs can directly contribute to a candidate’s campaign or — as many are choosing in the May 3 mayor’s race — can spend as much as they want to indirectly support a candidate. The legal catch is that they can’t coordinate their spending with the candidate’s campaign.

While the city caps contributions to mayoral candidates at $1,000 per election cycle, spending by a PAC or nonprofit is unlimited — which makes a difference in a race where 27 candidates are vying for the city’s top spot.

PAC spending on political ads, including mailers, has boosted the visibility of the three leading City Hall outsiders vying to replace term-limited Mayor Ron Nirenberg.

District 8 Councilman Manny Pelaez is the only candidate from City Council who has a group spending to support his mayoral candidacy. That effort, in addition to the $324,000 he loaned his campaign in March, has helped him compete for a spot in the June 7 runoff against well-funded outsiders: tech entrepreneur Beto Altamirano, former Air Force Undersecretary Gina Ortiz Jones and former Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos.

San Antonio for Everyone, a nonprofit formed for this election, spent nearly $136,400 to run ads on KSAT-TV and on streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu in support of Pelaez, according to campaign finance reports due Friday covering April 3 through April 23. The streaming-services ads target voters whose IP addresses on San Antonio’s West, South, Southwest and North sides.

Because San Antonio for Everyone is registered as a 501(c) (4) “social welfare nonprofit,” federal law allows it to keep its donor list private, which is why government transparency organizations refer to them as “dark money” groups. Unlike traditional nonprofits, such groups can fund political activities as long as such spending is not their “primary activity.”

Chase Taylor is listed as the nonprofit’s treasurer, according to documents filed with KSAT. Taylor works at VIVA Politics, which is the political communications and campaign management firm that’s running Pelaez’s mayoral campaign. Taylor is not working on Pelaez’s campaign and there is a “firewall” between him and the other employees, said VIVA Politics’ attorney Andrew Cates.

The San Antonio mayor is a nonpartisan office, but that hasn’t stopped partisan PACs from trying to influence the race.

Washington, D.C.-based Fields of Change, which backs Democratic candidates running for all levels of government, reported spending almost $106,000 on digital ads and mailers in support of Jones. She ran unsuccessfully as the Democratic nominee for Texas’ 23rd Congressional District in 2018 and 2020 before then-President Joe Biden nominated her for the Air Force’s second-highest ranking civilian role.

Fields of Change was started by Marcus Flowers, an Army veteran who made a political name for himself when he ran as a longshot Democratic candidate in Georgia’s 2022 general election against far-right U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Two years later, Flowers ran unsuccessfully in the state’s Democratic primary against longtime U.S. Rep. David Scott.

The Texas Economic Fund has spent $212,600 on mailers, billboards, and radio and television ads urging voters to elect Pablos, who Republican Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Texas secretary of state in 2016.

The recently-formed PAC aims to elect conservative candidates to local offices. Its strategist, Mitchell Carney, was the political director for Abbott’s 2022 reelection campaign.

San Antonio businessman and philanthropist Gordon Hartman, who opened Morgan’s Wonderland for children with special needs, is tied with San Antonio biotechnology company RegenTX Labs for the PAC’s biggest donor. Both gave $50,000." SAEN ($)

• TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

“Tilman Fertitta confirmed as U.S. ambassador to Italy by Senate,” Houston Chronicle's Erica Grieder — "Houston's Tilman Fertitta has been confirmed as United States ambassador to Italy and San Marino.

The billionaire businessman, who was nominated to the post by then President-elect Donald Trump in December, was approved by the Senate on Tuesday evening by a vote of 83-14.

Fertitta, who was born in Galveston and is of Sicilian descent, described himself as a longtime admirer of Italy's culture, food and patriotic spirit in his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations committee earlier this month.

"If confirmed, I take the responsibility of being an ambassador at this crucial moment in history as the most important job of my life," Fertitta said. "You have my commitment, and America has my commitment, to always represent the United States and President Trump with dignity, pride, friendship and strength."

The confirmation will mean changes for many Houston institutions, given the scope of Fertitta's business and civic activities since he launched his entertainment empire with a single restaurant, Landry's Seafood in Katy, in 1986. He is the wealthiest person in Houston according to Forbes magazine.

In a letter to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, Fertitta said that, if confirmed, he would resign as CEO of Landry's, Inc., which has grown to include about 600 dining, gaming and entertainment locations. He is also expected to step down as chair of the University of Houston System Board of Regents.

However, Fertitta will retain his role as owner of the Houston Rockets, he said in the letter." Houston Chronicle ($)

• NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE

> THE TEXAN: "Texas House Gives Unanimous Approval to ‘Uvalde Strong Act’" THE TEXAN

> THE TEXAN: "'Life of the Mother Act' Clarifying Texas Abortion Law Passes Senate Unanimously" THE TEXAN

> AAS: "Texans will vote on establishing dementia research center. Here's how much it would cost." AAS

> SA REPORT: "'Uvalde Strong' bill approved by Texas House" SA REPORT

> MRT: "Texas Senate OKs effort to clarify medical exceptions under state's abortion ban" MRT

> COMMUNITY IMPACT: "Conroe City Council votes to require in-person attendance for executive session" COMMUNITY IMPACT

> THE TEXAN: "Bill to Revise School District Detachment Process Heard in House Committee" THE TEXAN

> SA REPORT: "The 10 election races we’re watching on May 3" SA REPORT

> SA REPORT: "Takeaways from the final fundraising before San Antonio's election" SA REPORT

> COMMUNITY IMPACT: "Fort Bend County commissioners disagree on legal counsel as 21% of voter precincts remain noncompliant" COMMUNITY IMPACT

> DMN: "Texas measles outbreak now over 660 cases, but fewer than 10 actively infectious" DMN

> FWST: "Jail staff laughed at dying veteran left strapped to chair in Texas, suit says" FWST

> FWST: "Three arrested in Parker County triple homicide after bodies found, sheriff says" FWST

> DMN: "Justin police officer shoots, kills man armed with gun, officials say" DMN

> HOU CHRON: "Texans 53-man roster projection: Which position groups have most competition?" HOU CHRON

> FWST: "1 dead in shooting at apartment near University of North Texas campus, police say" FWST

> AAS: "'I just smoked a dude': Texas deputy tells colleague after fatally shooting unarmed man" AAS

> AAS: "Which US states have the biggest economy? Texas ranks No. 2 behind this state" AAS

> HOU CHRON: "'You can count on us.' German president marks 70 years of NATO membership with pledge for future" HOU CHRON

> THE TEXAN: "'Dramatic Drop' in Border Crossings Reported in March" THE TEXAN

> AAS: "'Burn it all down': Hardline conservative bloc declares war on Texas House GOP leadership" AAS

> THE TEXAN: "House Bill Would Fine Museums Up to $500,000 a Day for Displaying 'Obscene Material'" THE TEXAN

> THE TEXAN: "Dallas-Austin-San Antonio High-Speed Rail Proposed in Bill" THE TEXAN

> THE TEXAN: "Texas Lottery Commission Faces New Lawsuit Amid State Scrutiny" THE TEXAN

> MY RGV: "SpaceX legislation dies: Would have removed county’s authority on closures" MY RGV

> SA REPORT: "Takeaways from the final fundraising before San Antonio's election" SA REPORT

> SA REPORT: "Early voting lags in San Antonio’s high-profile mayoral race" SA REPORT

> SAEN: "'Bad for kids': Incumbent in SAISD board race takes off the gloves" SAEN

> FWST: "Man shot, killed by Justin officer after fleeing traffic stop and pointing gun, cops say" FWST

> HOU CHRON: "MD Anderson pauses hiring after $43M loss, anxiety over Trump tariffs" HOU CHRON

> TX TRIB: "Have questions about Texas’ proposed school voucher program? We have answers." TX TRIB

> FWST: "Man shoots himself during River Oaks traffic stop; officer also fired gun, cops say" FWST

> AAS: "Texas megachurch bishop T.D. Jakes steps down from Potter's House, appoints his daughter" AAS

> KXAN: "Preschool kids raises funds for Make-A-Wish children amid economic strife" KXAN

> FWST: "Small aircraft with 3 aboard crashes in field near Lancaster, FAA says" FWST

> TPR: "Texas A&M senior research engineer describes the kinds of risks facing power grids" TPR

> HOU CHRON: "Is the risky move to relocate a famed NASA space shuttle to Houston worth it?" HOU CHRON

> FWST: "2 Southlake officers injured in crashes while responding to call, police say" FWST

> MY RGV: "Traces of E. coli found in Edinburg school floorboards, students relocating" MY RGV

> AAS: "Do you have a REAL ID in Texas? If you plan to fly, this important deadline is coming up" AAS

> COMMUNITY IMPACT: "SCUCISD receives ‘B’ rating from TEA for 2022-23 school year" COMMUNITY IMPACT

• EXTRA POINTS

Recent Texas sports scores:
Mon
> MLB: Oakland 2, Texas 1
> MLB: Houston 8, Detroit 5
> NHL: Dallas 6, Colorado 2
> NBA: at Golden State 109, Houston 106
Tues
> MLB: Texas 15, Oakland 2
> MLB: Houston 6, Detroit 4

Tonight's Texas sports schedule:
> 1:10pm: MLB: Detroit at Houston
> 6:30pm: NBA: Golden State at Houston (TNT)
> 7:05pm: MLB: Oakland at Texas

Tomorrow's Texas sports schedule:
> 1:35pm: MLB: Oakland at Texas
> 8:30pm: NHL: Dallas at Colorado (TBS)

DALLAS COWBOYS: "With Cowboys’ draft complete, where do WR2 position, Dak Prescott’s injury stand?" DMN ($)

HOUSTON ROCKETS: "Facing playoff elimination, do the Houston Rockets change their starting lineup?" Houston Chronicle ($)

TEXAS RANGERS: "Everything comes together in one big game for Jacob deGrom and the Texas Rangers offense" AP

HOUSTON ASTROS: "Astros 6, Tigers 4: Houston rallies in late innings against AL's top bullpen for third straight win" Houston Chronicle ($)

SAN ANTONIO SPURS: "Stephon Castle named Rookie of the Year, puts Spurs in rare air" SAEN ($)

DALLAS STARS: "Stars make key strides in physical game that will bode well for high-stakes Game 6" DMN ($)

TEXAS FOOTBALL: Bohls: "Salary cap? Texas Longhorns will spend between $35-40 million on their football roster for 2025" Houston Chronicle ($)