Daily Dispatch 10/9/23: Special Session On Vouchers Begins, and More

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: A third special session called this year by Governor Greg Abbott is set to kick off this morning at the Texas State Capitol: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/school-vouchers-border-security-and-covid-mandate-bans-heres-what-to-expect-in-texas-3rd-special-session/ ...Which we covered extensively in this weekend's special edition of the Progress Texas Happy Hour: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-130-why-school-vouchers-are-bad-for-texas/id1552998795?i=1000630493979 ...Already breaking ranks, at least one Democratic lawmaker: Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins of San Antonio: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/texas-democrat-compromise-school-choice-vouchers/287-2c051461-4bc3-47ee-8cd0-c479a7f2b084 ...And another House Democrat, Gene Wu, has a theory on why public school funding was left off the agenda: https://x.com/GeneforTexas/status/1710296945225306451?t=wYU0An7_knEQmhND-7BClg&s=03 ...As protests begin over the weekend at the Capitol grounds and Governor's Mansion: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/politics/texas-legislature/austin-state-capitol-anti-voucher-rally/269-c7589d65-a454-4abd-994f-9506832d1393 ...And Republicans remain smugly confident that vouchers will pass: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/texas-school-choice-bill-legislation-chair-house-public-education-committee-likes-odds-passing/287-d0a89ea3-a3ae-4b59-bb01-de7966ffaaa9 Also on the special session agenda: immigration, with the Colony Ridge neighborhood near Houston singled out by name: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/08/us/texas-migrants-housing-colony-ridge.html ...While progressives puzzle over the Biden Administration's decision to authorize 20 more miles of border wall through an environmentally sensitive zone: https://www.npr.org/2023/10/08/1204545880/the-biden-administration-is-building-a-controversial-part-of-the-border-wall-in- Texas law enforcement steps up monitoring of worship sites and military installations in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/law-enforcement-increase-patrols-in-metroplex-after-attack-on-israel/ ...While U.S. Rep Michael McCaul worries that his own party's fragmented leadership may encourage American foreign adversaries: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/08/congress-israel-hamas-mike-mccaul-00120514 Prominent Texas Republican operatives Jonathan Stickland and Matt Rinaldi are caught hosting notorious anti-Semite and generally gross person Nick Fuentes at a Fort Worth office building (warning that this read is particularly disgusting): https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/08/nick-fuentes-kyle-rittenhouse-jonathan-stickland/ A high-ranking Exxon executive is busted for sexual assault at a Magnolia hotel: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/exxon-mobils-top-shale-exec-arrested-on-sexual-assault-charge-in-texas-df29c965 And there IS a little good news this morning, for South Texas anyway: looks like it's gonna rain: https://www.expressnews.com/san-antonio-weather/forecast/article/tropical-storm-lidia-south-texas-18412692.php Thanks for listening! Find out all you need to know about voting in the constitutional amendment proposition election next month at https://govotetexas.org/ , and consider helping Progress Texas continue our important work at https://progresstexas.org/.