Texas Press Association’s Gary Borders reports…
Patrick warns GOP could lose state House majority
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick warned last week that the GOP risks losing its majority in the state House this November and urged party unity behind the winner of the May runoff between U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Without that unity, Patrick said that state Rep. James Talarico, the Democratic nominee, could win, The Dallas Morning News reported.
House Speaker Justin Burrows said he believes the GOP will keep its majority in the chamber but agreed unity is critical.
“We’ve got to be on the same page,” Burrows said. “We’ve got to be working and rowing in the same direction.”
Democrats, who have not held a majority in either chamber in more than 20 years, would have to flip 14 Republican seats to achieve a majority in the 150-member House.
Data centers set to get billions in tax breaks
An exemption for the state’s booming data center industry means Texas will lose $3.2 billion in sales tax revenue over the next two years, The Texas Tribune reported.
Lawmakers say they will consider proposals to either limit the tax break or eliminate it altogether when they meet in January for the next legislative session.
“These new numbers are extremely concerning, and I will say they’re unsustainable,” said state Sen. Joan Huffman, chair of the Senate Committee on Finance. “I plan to look at filing legislation to either repeal the exemption or take a very close look at it and see.”
The tax break was approved by lawmakers in 2014, when there were far fewer data centers and they were much smaller. If nothing changes, exemptions could reach $1.75 billion annually by 2030.
The state already has more than 300 active data centers, with more than 100 additional projects either under development or planned.
Texas could face $700 million in SNAP penalties
New federal rules designed to cut waste in the nation’s food stamp program means Texas taxpayers will have to pay $700 million more each year to participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, The Tribune reported. Officials with Texas Health and Human Services disclosed this to lawmakers at a recent committee hearing.
Almost 9% of the state’s SNAP payments had an error, slightly better than the national rate of 11%. Texas has until October 2027 to bring the error rate down below 6%. The error rate is based on unintentional mistakes by either the agency or the client receiving the benefits that result in an overpayment or underpayment.
Nearly one-fourth of the state’s population gets some type of assistance from Texas Health and Human Services.
“We are dealing today with a health care epidemic, but not from a disease or virus,” said Sen Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, the committee chair. “With scandals in places like Minnesota and California drawing national attention, we, as Texans, must examine our own system and see how we measure up to other states.”
Court pauses smokable cannabis ban, higher fees
A Travis County district judge has temporarily lifted a statewide ban on the sale of smokeable hemp products, The Texas Tribune reported. The temporary restraining order is in effect until at least April 23, when another hearing is scheduled.
Texas hemp companies sued to block new state rules that have wiped out a huge portion of the legal cannabis market, the Texas Standard reported. The rules took effect March 31 and prevented stores from selling smokable hemp products and vastly increased licensing fees. Smokable products make up the vast majority of hemp sales in the state.
“I estimated that flower is about half the market and smokable products put together including vapes are about two-thirds of the market,” said Robin Goldstein, a University of California economist who researches cannabis markets. He said the Texas market had about $4 billion in retail sales annually.
The plaintiffs are also suing over a jump in annual licensing fees for manufacturers from $250 to $10,000. Retailers must now pay $5,000 per store, up from $150.
“These provisions function not merely as regulatory tools, but as significant economic barriers not authorized by statute,” the lawsuit contends.
The suit was filed by the Texas Hemp Business Council, the Hemp Industry and Farmers of America, and eight Texas-based hemp companies.
State to launch statewide food permit July 1
The Department of State Health Services will begin offering statewide operating permits for food trucks in Texas beginning July 1, the Austin American-Statesman reported. Food truck owners currently must pay each city’s permitting fees to operate there, which discourages them from traveling to other places to sell their food.
“It’s a hassle to take time off to go and do that where we have to stop what we’re doing and lose money that day,” food truck owner Eloisa Schessler, of Dallas, said.
Some cities opposed the new law, fearing they may lose control of how mobile food trucks operate in their jurisdictions. They will still be able to control where and when food trucks operate, but they will not be able to collect permit and inspection fees.
Texas’ job growth continues to outpace national rate
Texas added 40,100 nonfarm jobs in January to reach 14,379,500 positions, outpacing the national growth rate by 0.6 percentage points, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.
“Texas employers continue to spur our state’s economic momentum, adding more than 40,000 jobs across a wide range of major industries,” said TWC Chairman Joe Esparza. “TWC remains committed to supporting Texas’ pro-growth policies and world-class talent pipeline that make Texas the best place to do business.”
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the state remained at 4.3%, which is below the national jobless rate of 4.7%.
Gary Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published a number of community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park. Email: gborders@texaspress.com.
