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- MRT 7/13-17/26 (free): Howden Appointed TX Secretary of State // Paxton, Talarico Agree to Debate // Goodwin Calls for Data Center Moratorium // Big 3 Order 3% State Agency Cuts
MRT 7/13-17/26 (free): Howden Appointed TX Secretary of State // Paxton, Talarico Agree to Debate // Goodwin Calls for Data Center Moratorium // Big 3 Order 3% State Agency Cuts
Here's What You Need to Know in Texas Today.
Matt Mackowiak
July 20, 2026
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TOP NEWS
“Greg Abbott to appoint adviser Robert Howden as secretary of state, senator says” via San Antonio Express-News‘s Haajrah Gilani and Benjamin Wermund --- Gov. Greg Abbott plans to appoint Robert Howden, his senior adviser and director of legislative affairs, to succeed Jane Nelson as the next secretary of state, according to a state senator briefed on the matter.
State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt said Howden — who lives in her Austin district — called her to discuss the appointment on Wednesday. It’s unclear when Abbott will make the announcement; Nelson’s last day is Friday.
Howden will take over just months ahead of this year’s high-stakes midterm election. His long history in state government means he has relationships with many lawmakers, including senators who would vote on his confirmation next year. He previously served in former Gov. Rick Perry’s office and led the National Federation of Independent Business Texas.
Nelson’s decision to step down stunned several local election officials, given its proximity to the November midterms. The shakeup comes as President Donald Trump has increasingly called election protocols into question since taking office. Late last year, Nelson agreed to hand over the names, addresses and partial social security numbers of almost all of the 18.6 million Texans registered to vote, presumably part of an effort by the Trump administration to identify problematic voters. (SAEN)
“US attorney releases new details in fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo” via Houston Chronicle‘s John Wayne Ferguson – The new U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas on Thursday afternoon released a video statement about the shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in which he made new claims about what happened in the moments before the Houston migrant’s death.
In the statement, U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz said immigration agents surrounded Salgado’s work van on Canal Street and that an agent was “partially inside the van or immediately next to the van” when Salgado shifted the van into reverse, then forward again.
The immigration agent fired a single shot that hit Salgado, fatally wounding him, Reitz said.
Reitz said his office was not “drawing any final conclusions” about what happened in the encounter, which has sparked an outpouring of protests in Houston over the past week as well as calls for an independent investigation. (HOU CHRON)
“Harris County DA’s office to treat ICE shooting as criminal investigation, says it may take months or years to complete” via The Texas Tribune‘s Stephen Simpson – Harris County officials still don’t know the names of the agents who were present when an ICE officer shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, leading the county’s district attorney’s office to investigate this case like a criminal investigation to figure out who fired the shot.
“We will investigate it like we do all criminal investigations,” said Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare during a Monday joint press conference with County Commissioner Rodney Ellis. “We are good at identifying individuals who don’t want to be found.”
Teare called the lack of cooperation from federal agencies unacceptable and unprecedented, but his office is determined to get answers for Araujo’s family and Harris County residents.
“In all likelihood, this will take many, many months — potentially years — before we finally get the answers that we all need, but we will not rest, and we cannot do it without the support of the public and the support of our commissioners,” he said. (TX TRIB)
“After week of silence, Gov. Greg Abbott calls fatal ICE shooting “tragic”” via The Texas Tribune‘s Alejandro Serrano – Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday broke his silence about the fatal Immigration and Customs Enforcement shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican citizen who lived in the Houston area for decades, saying that “any loss of life is tragic.”
Speaking to reporters, the governor confirmed that the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas Rangers, the state police’s investigative division, will probe the shooting with federal authorities, after days of Democratic and civil rights leaders in Houston calling for just that.
ICE officers killed Salgado Araujo July 7 while trying to pull over a van he was driving, even though federal authorities have since said he was not the target of their operation that morning. Abbott and other top Texas Republicans were largely silent in the days following the killing.
“In Texas and across America, we don’t want to see people shot. Period,” Abbott said. “That’s separate from whether or not the immigration laws are going to be enforced. I fully expect our immigration laws to be enforced, but it’s proven that immigration laws can be enforced and stopping illegal immigration from coming across our border can be achieved without shooting people.” (TX TRIB)
“Mexico asks US state attorneys general to investigate migrant deaths in ICE custody” via AP — Mexico formally requested that U.S. state attorneys general criminally investigate cases of migrants who have died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody or during raids, the Mexican government said Tuesday.
The request follows the death of Mexican immigrant Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Houston. Since the beginning of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, 17 Mexican migrants have died during immigration enforcement, 14 in ICE custody and three in agency operations.
Mexico’s Foreign Ministry had previously said it would make the request, which was formalized on Tuesday, according to the ministry. It said a similar request will be also sent to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The United States is not legally obliged to act on the requests. (AP)
“Corpus Christi in legal fight with industries after rejecting demand for $80 million water refund” via The Texas Tribune‘s Chuck Lindell – For at least a decade, Corpus Christi sold water to a handful of large industrial plants at a steeply discounted rate, according to documents and interviews with city officials. Residents and businesses paid more than $100 million to subsidize water for some of the world’s richest energy companies, the city’s rate models show.
Three years ago, Corpus Christi doubled the companies’ water rates in an effort to correct the imbalance. But the companies, including Valero, Citgo and LyondellBassell, protested to state regulators, sparking a legal battle that will come to a head today as a public hearing over the matter begins in front of an independent state agency in Austin.
The outcome will have major implications for Corpus Christi, which is facing an unprecedented water supply crisis, as well as the energy companies that have long dominated its economy. If the companies prevail, Corpus could be forced to refund them tens of millions of dollars even as it desperately seeks funding for new water projects and raises rates on the rest of the region’s consumers.
“I’m holding my breath,” said Sylvia Campos, a City Council member who campaigned on raising industrial water rates. “Let’s hope that we don’t have to pay them back.” (TX TRIB)
“Appeals court rejects effort to defend Texas law offering in-state tuition for undocumented students” via San Antonio Report‘s Jessica Priest – A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected an effort to defend the Texas Dream Act, leaving in place a ruling that ended a longstanding state law that allowed some undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said advocacy groups, Austin Community College and a student could not step into the case to defend the Texas Dream Act because federal law bars states from giving undocumented students a tuition benefit based on residency unless the same benefit is available to all U.S. citizens, regardless of where they live.
The law allowed students who graduated from a Texas high school or earned an equivalent diploma in the state, lived in Texas and pledged to seek permanent residency when eligible to pay in-state tuition, even if they did not have legal immigration status.
Gov. Greg Abbott praised the 2-1 ruling on X, saying Texas and the Trump administration’s Justice Department “just secured another major victory for the rule of law.” (SA REPORT)
“Rural Texans push back as data center growth accelerates” via Austin American-Statesman‘s Karoline Leonard – Derek Emadi has worked a few acres in rural Caldwell County, building a family farm from the ground up.
Emadi — who left his San Marcos special education and behavior teaching job in 2014 for a taste of country life — grows vegetables year-round in eight greenhouses at Emadi Acres Farm, where he lives with his two children, who are 8 and 6. But his work as a farmer is being threatened by at least five data centers planned or under construction in the Lockhart area.
“I don’t know what I can do as a single, lone resident,” Emadi said. “I’m just trying to build this farm for my business and for my children to have one day. If that can potentially be ruined by this? All my hard work is just down the drain. And I can’t do anything about it.”
An inviting regulatory climate, support from state lawmakers and open access to land have drawn some of the world’s largest companies to build data centers in Texas. Increasingly, they are choosing to plant their resource-intensive industrial complexes in rural communities. (AAS)
“TSU plans to build new football field, housing as part of $1.7B campus remake” via Houston Chronicle‘s Samantha Ketterer – Texas Southern University has mapped out a major building plan worth $1.7 billion to create a more connected and modernized campus, including new dorms, athletic facilities and law school building that have long been on students’ and alumni’s wish lists.
The historically Black university still needs to secure funding through different sources like donations, private partnerships and legislative appropriations. But university officials say they have high hopes for the new campus master plan that is “both visionary and pragmatic.”
If the plan is realized, students will see most of TSU get a facelift over the next 10 years. Construction would occur in three phases and create new academic, living and dining facilities; a relocated track and football field that can seat 10,000 fans; and several refurbished outdoor spaces, beginning with an extended Tiger Walk.
“If you continue to have outdated, unused facilities on your campus, you’re sending a message to your students and to those who you’re seeking to partner with,” university president J.W. Crawford III said. “We want the students, faculty and staff and our partners … excited about being here.” (HOU CHRON)
“Fort Worth naval base ranks among Texas’ biggest military economic engines” via Fort Worth Star-Telegram‘s Maven Navarro – The Naval Air Station Fort Worth contributed at least $4.6 billion to the Texas economy, according to a report from the Texas Comptroller.
The base had the fourth-largest contribution to the Texas economy out of the 14 military installations in the state. Joint Base San Antonio had the highest economic impact, with $53.5 billion.
Fort Hood ($37.9 billion) and Fort Bliss ($29.1 billion) were the only other installations with a higher economic impact than Fort Worth. In total, the 14 installations contributed over $148.8 billion into the Texas economy.
Formerly known as Carswell Air Force Base, the naval air station houses a variety of Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Army, and Texas Air National Guard units. The base employs 4,553 people, including 2,175 active duty military personnel. (FWST)
“Texas cattle, other animals, banned from entering Canada” via The Texas Tribune‘s Stephen Simpson – Canada has suspended several animal exports from Texas due to concerns about the New World screwworm, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is immediately suspending the export of horses, pigs, cattle, bison, sheep, goats, deer, elk, moose, llamas and more. Imports from other states are permitted, provided the animals have not resided in or passed through Texas during the 21 days immediately prior to their arrival in Canada.
The USDA stated in a news release on Tuesday that its accredited veterinarians must include information on whether the animal resided in or was transported through a state affected by New World Screwworm, and that exporters/shippers have been advised that this is required; otherwise, the shipment will be refused entry into Canada.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced in a news release that it will continue to work closely with its United States counterparts to assess developments and adjust measures as needed. (TX TRIB)
2026
“Ken Paxton and James Talarico Agree to Debate in U.S. Senate Race” via The New York Times‘s Lauren McGaughy – James Talarico and Ken Paxton appear likely to meet in at least one televised debate as they vie for the U.S. Senate in Texas, after both campaigns agreed on Thursday to an eventual showdown.
The exact terms and timing, as well as how many debates might happen, remained unclear. But it was notable that Mr. Paxton’s campaign agreed to debate at all: he has served more than 20 years in elected office and has declined to debate a political opponent since before he was elected to statewide office in 2014.
On Thursday morning, Mr. Talarico, a Democratic state representative, formally challenged Mr. Paxton, the Texas attorney general, to three televised debates. Within hours, Mr. Paxton’s campaign accepted the call, according to The Texas Tribune.
A face-to-face between the candidates would provide a signature moment in one of the most closely watched Senate races of 2026, and a potential turning point for both candidates. (The New York Times)
“Billionaire Reid Hoffman gives $10 million to super PAC backing Talarico’s Senate bid in Texas” via The Texas Tribune‘s Samanta Habashy –- Reid Hoffman, the LinkedIn co-founder and prominent billionaire venture capitalist, last month donated $10 million to the main super PAC supporting Democratic U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico, according to newly filed Federal Election Committee records.
While other donors chipped in five‑ and six‑figure sums, Hoffman’s contribution alone was nearly 80% of the second‑quarter haul reported by Lone Star Rising, which took in almost $13 million between April and June. That’s on top of Hoffman’s previous donations of $1 million in February and $500,000 in January.
Lone Star Liberty PAC, the super PAC supporting Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Talarico’s Republican opponent, raised a fraction of that amount. FEC filings show the committee cobbling together just under $4.3 million from a patchwork of trial lawyers, oil‑and‑gas executives, construction firms and allied PACs, among other donors.
Since launching his Senate bid in September, Talarico has far outpaced Paxton in fundraising, raising over $70 million — more than four times Paxton’s roughly $17 million over the same period. On top of that, Lone Star Rising — which, like all super PACs, cannot legally coordinate with Talarico or any other candidate — has hauled in nearly $22 million, playing a key supporting role in the Austin Democrat’s primary win over U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, earlier this year. (TX TRIB)
“Texas Tech chair donated $275K to Ken Paxton day before AG intervened in Brendan Sorsby saga” via The Texas Tribune‘s Kayla Guo – Last month, Attorney General Ken Paxton waded into the explosive college football saga involving Brendan Sorsby, the Texas Tech University quarterback who had admitted to placing thousands of improper sports bets, including on his own team’s games, resulting in the NCAA declaring him ineligible to play.
In a June 11 letter, Paxton’s office warned the Big 12 Conference on behalf of Texas Tech that any move to sanction the university for fielding Sorsby would be “unlawful” and potentially expose it to $200 million in damages.
One day before he sent that letter, Texas Tech Board of Regents Chair Cody Campbell, one of Sorsby’s most public defenders, donated $274,300 to a fundraising committee supporting Paxton in his bid for U.S. Senate, according to campaign finance records newly filed with the Federal Election Committee Wednesday.
Campbell declined to comment on the record for this story. Paxton’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment or to questions about whether Paxton indicated to Campbell that his office would send the letter if he made the donation. Texas Tech also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (TX TRIB)
“How suing Biden more than 100 times fueled Ken Paxton’s rise and reshaped Texans’ lives” via The Texas Tribune‘s Eleanor Klibanoff – In April 2024, the Biden administration cleared the way for more than 4 million low-wage workers to collect overtime pay. People earning less than $58,656 were to be paid time and a half if they worked over 40 hours a week, a shift that would put $1.5 billion into workers’ pockets, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
A Trump-appointed judge, who previously worked at the Texas attorney general’s office, agreed that it was an unconstitutional overreach and struck down the policy nationwide.
Today, the threshold for mandatory overtime pay remains at $35,568, where the first Trump administration set it in 2019.
Over four years, Paxton’s office ran this same play more than 100 times, filing quick-turn lawsuits asking friendly judges to block President Joe Biden’s signature policies for the whole country. Texas was the tip of the spear, leading almost four times as many lawsuits as the next-highest state and marshaling unprecedented agency resources toward the cause. (TX TRIB)
“Texas lieutenant governor candidate calls for moratorium on data centers” via Courthouse News‘s N/A – Vikki Goodwin held a press conference Tuesday with state and local leaders calling for limits on data center development in a state where the industry is currently seeing the fastest growth in the nation.
Texas Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Vikki Goodwin called Tuesday for a moratorium on new data centers in the state until more regulation is passed.
Goodwin, who currently represents part of Austin in the Texas House of Representatives, held a press conference in the city with state and local leaders calling for limits on data center construction due to concerns like higher energy bills and water resource depletion.
“This issue is one that deserves a special session for the Legislature to weigh in and put in place regulations that ensure we are protecting our communities, providing transparency, ensuring costs aren’t passed along to households and that we are considering the implications of artificial intelligence, including the potential for job loss,” Goodwin said. (Courthouse News)
STATE GOVERNMENT
“Texas agencies must cut spending by 3% under new order from Abbott, Patrick and Burrows” via The Texas Tribune‘s Kayla Guo, Jessica Priest and Terri Langford – Texas’ top elected officials on Wednesday instructed state agencies, appellate courts and universities to cut spending by 3% in their budget requests for the next two years “as a starting point for budget deliberations.”
Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who oversees the Senate, issued the guidance, framing the move as a way to keep Texas fiscally conservative and create wiggle room to fund priorities such as property tax cuts.
K-12 public education funding and the state’s new private school voucher program are exempted from the 3% cut, according to the guidance, as is funding needed to maintain various social programs required by state law and to cover payroll growth in state pension systems and employee benefits.
“Texas leads the nation with a strong economy and responsible governance that puts families first,” Abbott said. “This guidance protects our historic investments in public education and teachers, delivers even more property tax relief and makes the cost of living more manageable for Texas families through strict standards of efficiency and accountability from every state agency.” (TX TRIB)
“Texas Fast-Tracks Business Filings as Delaware Exits Accelerate” via Bloomberg Government News‘s Alexandra Samuels – Texas is expanding same-day and next-day processing to all business filings, adding speed to the state’s corporate paperwork system as more companies look to relocate or organize there.
Secretary of State Jane Nelson announced the full rollout of Texas Express, an expedited business filing service that will now apply to all types of business filings handled by her office. The service allows companies to pay $750 per document for same-day processing or $500 for next-day processing, in addition to the regular filing fee. (Bloomberg Government News)
“Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller requests special session to address data centers” via Spectrum News‘s N/A – After saying Texas is the “epicenter of AI development” in November of last year, Gov. Greg Abbott seems to be walking back on some of his earlier positions on data centers. The governor is now calling for more regulations on the industry and to prohibit them from being built in rural neighborhoods. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is calling on Abbott to convene a special session to address data centers.
Data centers have been getting a lot of pushback from communities across Texas. Dozens of posts in a Facebook group with thousands of Texas residents have been demanding Abbott call a special session.
“This is the hottest topic in Texas right now, especially in rural Texas,” Miller said. “Rural Texans are upset.”
Miller has expressed concerns about data centers since May, calling for a temporary moratorium on the construction of these projects. (Spectrum News)
“Texas could gain unprecedented influence over textbooks used in public schools” via Houston Chronicle‘s Isaac Yu – Last month, Texas overhauled what the state’s 5.5 million public school students will be expected to learn about history and literature, embedding Christianity and biblical readings into the standards on a scale no other state has matched.
Now, the Texas Education Agency is capitalizing on those changes, spending millions to develop new textbooks and lesson plans that districts will be incentivized to use.
The move could edge out private publishers and further cement the agency’s role in dictating how and what public schools teach, industry observers and critics said. (HOU CHRON)
Editorial” “Who will police Ken Paxton’s alleged voter fraud?” via Dallas Morning News – Ken Paxton may be just another mid-divorce dad, kicked out of the house because of an affair and struggling with the details of dividing up the shared property acquired during a decades-long marriage. He may have been so distracted he lost track of a bit of trivial paperwork like updating the address on his voter registration. Such things happen.
But then again, he is a lawyer. And not just any lawyer, but the attorney general for the great state of Texas, a man who has claimed that voting irregularities are rampant here, from mail-in ballot fraud to noncitizens imperiling election integrity.
Paxton created an election integrity unit in 2022 and convinced the Legislature last year to give his office the power to prosecute election offenses, an authority previously reserved for local law enforcement and prosecutors. Local jurisdictions will also have to turn over all their information about alleged voting crimes if the AG wants it. He even established an email “tipline” where Texans could report suspected violations of election law.
That tipline must have been inundated with emails last week, when the news organizations ProPublica and The Texas Tribune reported that Paxton appears to have voted six times using an invalid address. (DMN)
“Texas says foster care is improving. Monitors are still raising alarms over child safety.” via Austin American-Statesman‘s Paul Flahive – Texas may be trying again to end eight years of costly court-ordered oversight of its troubled foster care program. It’s a battle with roots in a federal court decision from 2015 — in a case that was filed in 2011 — when a judge declared children were leaving the state’s child welfare system in worse shape than they entered. Federal oversight began in 2018 and, since then, reports have both shown progress and exposed failures.
Now, the state could be seeking relief from the supervision that has cost it $80 million through February. The content of a new motion Texas filed in the case is sealed, but the last time it filed a similar motion, the state was asking U.S. District Court Judge Janis Graham Jack to stop monitoring its progress on a dozen court orders. She scoffed at the idea, pointing to the state’s numerous documented failures, for which she had repeatedly found the state to be in contempt and assessed $100,000-a-day fines.
“To have the hubris to file a motion for relief is just beyond me,” she said. But Jack is no longer overseeing the case. Texas was able to have her removed with the help of the 5th U.S. Circuit court of Appeals, which also vacated the contempt fines and narrowed the court’s supervision. Since then, the state has been on a campaign to further reduce the court’s role under a different judge.
The move to reduce or remove the court from the system comes despite new court monitors’ reports filed last month that highlight some of the state’s continuing failures to keep children safe in its custody — especially in its attempts to privatize its foster care system. Earlier this year, the state was forced to take over one of the nonprofits it had contracted with because of child deaths. (AAS)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
“Austin paid nonprofits that missed nearly half of service targets” via Austin American-Statesman‘s Chaya Tong – Austin paid nonprofit organizations millions of dollars for family, health and social services they did not fully deliver, according to a city audit that found contractors missed nearly half of the performance targets reviewed.
The Austin City Auditor’s Office examined 25 contracts worth about $30 million and found that nonprofits failed to meet at least one performance expectation in 19 of them, or 76%. Across 151 measurable targets, contractors missed 67, or 44%, including benchmarks for the number of residents served and whether services improved clients’ health or circumstances.
The shortfalls were often substantial. More than half of the missed targets fell at least 40% below the amount nonprofits had agreed to provide. In one contract, an organization agreed to serve 907 clients but served 573. It reported that 73 clients showed improved mental health, compared with a goal of 362.
The audit does not identify any of the nonprofits by name. (AAS)
“Dallas jury awards $76M to families, survivors of 2022 mass shooting” via Fort Worth Star-Telegram‘s Lillie Davidson – A Dallas County jury awarded more than $76 million to survivors of a mass shooting at a 2022 concert event, attorneys said in a statement.
The verdict, handed down last Friday, covers claims brought by the family of Kealon Gilmore, who was killed, and wounded survivors including Jazmin Anderson, who was shot in the head, according to the statement.
More than 2,000 people attended the April 2, 2022, event, which was held on the property of St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Oak Cliff, according to testimony presented at trial.
Organizers promoted the event as a family-friendly space with an Easter egg hunt and horse rides for children, according to the statement. A later social media post promised metal detectors, controlled entry and exit gates and on-site security from off-duty Dallas police officers. (FWST)
“Taxes, police and service cuts: Austin’s budget fight starts now” via Austin American-Statesman‘s Chaya Tong and Austin Sanders – Austin City Manager T.C. Broadnax and his staff will present their $6.6 billion budget proposal to the City Council on Thursday, opening a debate over a spending plan that would cut social service contracts, boost police spending and raise taxes and fees for residents.
The plan proposes closing a projected $26 million deficit through spending cuts, reallocations and additional revenue. It also boosts funding for some priority initiatives such as homelessness, parks and employee raises. Residents would pay more through higher utility and drainage fees and a 3.5% tax increase – the maximum allowed under state law without triggering a voter-approval election. Together, the increases are estimated to cost the average Austin homeowner nearly $346 a year, or about $29 a month.
But the proposal is a starting point. City Council members can make changes to the spending plan before adopting a final budget Aug. 12.
In the days since Broadnax released the plan, the American-Statesman asked community groups, union leaders and City Council members for their thoughts on the proposal. (AAS)
“Here’s how Bexar County plans to avoid a tax increase while others raise rates” via TPR‘s Andrea Drusch – As property value declined this year, Bexar County is among the many taxing entities projecting less revenue than the year before. But unlike the City of San Antonio and other municipalities, which are calling for big tax hikes to bridge the gap, county leaders say they expect to keep their tax rate the same — and avoid major cuts to services.
County leaders say they’re able to do that because they put away money during the years when property values were going up, and used borrowed money for more projects when interest rates were low. Now that property tax revenue has slowed, they’ve stopped issuing new bonds while working to pay down old debt, and they have enough cash reserves to carry them through.
“We look at a long-range financial forecast, and right now we’re pretty healthy, so we don’t have a recommendation to increase taxes,” said Tanya Gaitan, Bexar County Budget and Finance Director. “It’s really because of the decisions the county commissioners made.”
That doesn’t mean Bexar County is out of the woods this budget season, however. During the COVID-19 pandemic the county budget grew by $1 billion dollars — from about $1.8 billion in the 2020 fiscal year to nearly $3 billion by fiscal year 2023 — as Bexar County took in roughly $389 million in federal pandemic relief dollars at the same time property tax revenue was rising. (TPR)
Editorial: “City, county invest wisely to land Toyota expansion — and keep Spurs” via San Antonio Express-News – New Tundra pickup trucks and Sequoia SUVs are lined up in May 2024 to be loaded on trains outside the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas Inc. plant on the South Side. The planned expansion of the Toyota plant here reflects wise investments from the city and county.
Michael Hernandez, a manager at Toyota’s new rear axle plant in San Antonio, gives a demonstration on March 2. Toyota will be expanding its presence here, creating 2,000 additional jobs.
Toyota Motor Corp. has chosen San Antonio for its $3.6 billion expansion, which is expected to bring 2,000 jobs to the automaker’s South Side plant. Shown is the rear axle plant, which will add 400 jobs to the campus and begin operations this year.
The San Antonio City Council and Bexar County Commissioners Court made smart investments in our metro area with financial incentives that undoubtedly contributed to Toyota Motor Corp.’s decision to massively expand its production portfolio on the South Side. (SAEN)
#TXLEGE
“Sports betting is illegal in Texas. What about prediction markets like Kalshi?” via Fort Worth Star-Telegram‘s Tiffani Jackson – Sports betting is illegal in Texas, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket allow people to make money based on what they think will happen in sports, politics and other real world events. The platforms have grown in popularity, giving users a way to put their predictions to the test.
But if Texas doesn’t allow sports betting, how can these markets operate in the state? Are they legal? Yes. Prediction markets can legally operate in Texas because they’re regulated by the federal government rather than under state gambling laws.
In the U.S., prediction markets are referred to as “event contract markets.” The Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulates those markets, where people can trade contracts based on whether a future event will happen. Kalshi, for example, is regulated by the CFTC as a designated contract market, a type of financial exchange approved and overseen by the federal agency.
That federal oversight allows Kalshi to offer its prediction market to users in Texas. The biggest difference between prediction markets and traditional sports betting is how people put their money on an outcome. (FWST)
“Housing Affordability Resurfaces as Potential Texas Legislative Priority in Next Session” via The Texan‘s Isaiah Mitchell – State leaders are preparing a return volley after local governments attempted to thwart several pro-development bills passed last session.
Leading members of the Texas Legislature made housing affordability a top priority in the last session, and an upcoming interim committee hearing suggests the issue isn’t going away.
The Land and Resource Management Committee of the Texas House plans to meet next Monday, July 20, to discuss a group of housing bills nearly a year after they took effect. Intended to boost the state’s housing supply by freeing up the development process, all four bills have encountered opposition from local government officials, prompting state leaders to return to the issue in the 90th Legislative Session beginning in January. (THE TEXAN)
BUSINESS NEWS
“Frisco businessmen ordered to pay $400 million in damages for fraud scheme” via Dallas Morning News‘ Jane Harper – Promotional materials for a fraudulent proposed luxury development showed businesses, shops, restaurants and office buildings along a waterfront site near Georgetown. In July 2026, a jury in Williamson County determined the Frisco businessmen promoting it had committed fraud and ordered them to pay $400 million in damages to a company they defrauded.
The 400-acre waterfront development looked like an oasis in the heart of Central Texas. It turned out to be little more than a mirage.
The glossy promotional materials showed cobblestone streets lined with shops, restaurants and parks. Modern and historic-looking office buildings were scattered about. A canal where boats could dock beside waterfront restaurants glistened in the lights.
But the proposed luxury development was a trap, a beacon for investment in a fraudulent plan that was never intended to become reality, according to Dripping Springs attorney Tanner Neidhardt. And it wasn’t the first scheme dreamed up by two Frisco businessmen, court records show. (DMN)
“Abbott, Austin drone boat maker plan ‘major’ announcement amid $3.2B Texas shipyard bid” via San Antonio Express-News‘s Brandon Lingle – Gov. Greg Abbott and leaders of Saronic Technologies Inc., which has been eyeing the Port of Brownsville for a $3.2 billion shipyard, are planning what the governor’s office is calling a “major economic development announcement.”
It did not disclose the content of Thursday’s announcement, but Austin-based Saronic has been looking for a site for its Port Alpha, a highly automated shipyard to build medium and large autonomous boats. It promises as many as 10,000 jobs over a phased build-out.
Saronic has also been eyeing sites in Solano County, California, and in Virginia, but the Port of Brownsville is seen as the top contender for the project. Local and state officials have already sweetened the deal with incentive packages worth an estimated $450 million.
The fast-growing company made history this week when the U.S. Navy used three of its sea drones to attack an Iranian naval base in the Strait of Hormuz — the first known U.S. use of such craft in combat. Last month, the same type of vessel notched a first when it rescued the pilots of a U.S. Apache helicopter that had been downed near the strait. (SAEN)
“Two school districts approve $1.66B tax breaks for SpaceX chipmaking plant” via Houston Chronicle‘s Andrea Leinfelder – Two rural school districts have advanced plans for $1.66 billion in tax breaks for SpaceX’s proposed chipmaking facility outside of College Station.
Anderson-Shiro CISD and Iola ISD approved the SpaceX incentives during their separate meetings Tuesday night. The school boards will vote again after the agreements are finalized and approved by SpaceX and the state. Last month, Grimes County also agreed to waive its portion of the company’s property taxes.
The chipmaking facility, dubbed Terafab, is expected to employ more than 3,000 people. It would build chips for broadband internet satellites and the data centers that SpaceX founder Elon Musk wants to launch into space, according to SpaceX employees who’ve spoken during the Iola ISD and Grimes County public meetings.
The initial buildout of the facility could cost $55 billion, growing to $119 billion if all four phases are built. (HOU CHRON)
“Data center debate lands in SpaceX’s Central Texas stronghold” via San Antonio Express-News‘s Brandon Lingle – The debate over data centers on Earth has landed in a small town outside of Waco that’s crucial to Elon Musk’s vision to move the technology to space.
Concerns over the closed-door approval of a new data center project and years of water violations tied to SpaceX rocket engine testing have some in McGregor calling for changes at City Hall. More than 60 people have signed a petition to change or remove Mayor Jim Lilley, according to Dennis Fehler, a fourth-generation native of the town who’s leading the recall effort.
“It’s not personal,” said the retired landscape architect who keeps tabs on McGregor’s dealings with industry. “He’s the captain of the Titanic, and that’s why we’re going to get rid of him.” (SAEN)
“Work starts on major $1.25 billion D-FW rare earth magnet factory” via Dallas Morning News‘ Nick Wooten – MP Materials is pushing forward with its planned $1.25 billion “10X” rare earth magnet factory that will bring more than 1,500 jobs to Northlake, state and county records show.
The Las Vegas-based company’s project was registered with state officials Monday. A Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation document shows work at the AllianceTexas site started in June and is expected to be completed by the start of 2028. Estimated construction costs for the nearly 1.4 million-square-foot facility are about $263.7 million. GSR Andrade Architects is listed as the design firm for the project.
Details in TDLR filings are preliminary and subject to change without notice. MP Materials did not respond to questions about the project before publication. The facility will manufacture neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets, a critical component for semiconductor manufacturing.
The filing comes after MP Materials purchased the 120-acre site near Harmonson Road from Ross Perot Jr.’s Hillwood for $80 million in April, Securities and Exchange Commission filings show. (DMN)
QUICK LINKS
AAS: “Catastrophic flooding sweeps across Texas, in photos” AAS
AAS: “Texas flash floods leave at least 2 dead in region devastated a year ago” AAS
AAS: “Weather conditions again brought devastating floods to a vulnerable swath of Texas” AAS
TX TRIB: “Where to find flooding resources and how to help impacted Texans” TX TRIB
TX TRIB: “Texas Democrats ask for investigation into Ken Paxton voter registration” TX TRIB
Office of the Texas Governor (.gov): “Governor Abbott Provides Update On State Response To Severe Flooding” Office of the Texas Governor (.gov)
HOU CHRON: “How Texas lawmakers voted on bill to make daylight saving time permanent” HOU CHRON
MY RGV: “Proposed EPA rule could weaken Texans’ voice on certain air permits used by data centers” MY RGV
Law.com: “Texas Court Extends Attorney-Immunity Shield to In-House Counsel in Landmark Business Court Case” Law.com
DMN: “Wilonsky: How the storm battering downtown Dallas claimed its only grocery store” DMN
HOU CHRON: “Harris County DA calls FBI search warrant into question in deadly ICE shooting” HOU CHRON
TX TRIB: “Houston community gathers to mourn man killed by ICE” TX TRIB
TX MONTHLY: “Thirty Years Ago, Austin Set Aside Thousands of Acres to Save Endangered Birds. Did It Work?” TX MONTHLY
KXAN: “AT&T sends ’emergency communications teams’ to Kerr County” KXAN
EXTRA POINTS
Recent Texas sports scores:
Monday 7/13
None.
Tuesday 7/14
None.
Wednesday 7/15
None.
Thursday 7/16
None.
Friday 7/17
> MLB: Baltimore 3, Houston 2
> MLB: Atlanta 15, Texas 1
Saturday 7/18
> MLB: Texas 7, Atlanta 6
> MLB: Baltimore 4, Houston 2
Sunday 7/19
> MLB: Baltimore 5, Houston 2
> MLB: Atlanta 8, Texas 5
> WNBA: Dallas 90, LA Sparks 82
Tonight’s Texas sports schedule:
> 7pm: WNBA: New York Liberty at Dallas
> 7:05pm: MLB: Chicago White Sox at Texas
> 7:10pm: MLB: Miami at Houston
Tomorrow’s Texas sports schedule:
> 7:05pm: MLB: Chicago White Sox at Texas
> 7:10pm: MLB: Miami at Houston
TEXAS SPORTS HEADLINES / LINKS
SAN ANTONIO SPURS: “Longtime Spurs fans stung by revocation of their season tickets” SAEN
TEXAS RANGERS: “Texas Rangers flee Victory+, create new DTC option mid-season” Sports Business Journal
DALLAS COWBOYS: “Cowboys Depth Chart: How will the QB competition shake out behind Dak Prescott?” FWST
HOUSTON TEXANS: “Texans announce co-founder Janice McNair has died at 89’” SI
DALLAS STARS: “’Dallas Stars, Jason Robertson learn date for arbitration hearing amid negotiations” DMN
TEXAS STATE FOOTBALL: “Ranking SEC defensive lines: Where Colin Simmons, Longhorns stack up”“ AAS