Capital Highlights Week of November 25 – 29, 2024

Abbott issues orders targeting China

Gov. Greg Abbott issued three executive orders last week targeting the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party, The Dallas Morning News reported
Abbott said the orders were intended to protect Texans of Chinese descent from “harassment and intimidation” by the Chinese Communist Party and government, and to fight threats to state security.
“Texas will not tolerate the harassment or coercion of the more than 250,000 individuals of Chinese descent who legally call Texas home by the Chinese Communist Party or its heinous proxies,” Abbott said.
The orders:
• Instruct the Texas Department of Public Safety to establish a hotline for victims and to “target and arrest” operatives in the state working with the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government.
• Direct all state agencies, colleges and universities to “harden” their systems against foreign governments. That includes stronger background checks on employees with access to critical infrastructure and banning state agencies from doing business with companies owned wholly or partially by foreign adversary countries.
• Direct the Texas Department of Emergency Management and the Public Utility Commission to create a task force to study vulnerabilities to potential cyberattacks and run simulations of possible responses.
“China has made it clear that they can — and will — target and attack America’s critical infrastructure,” Abbott said.

State plan for $3 billion to expand broadband approved

The state has won federal approval to move forward with its plan to improve broadband internet access for the estimated 7 million Texas residents who don’t have access, The Texas Tribune reported.
The approval came from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which means the state now has access to about $3.3 billion in federal funding included in the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The state has already awarded more than $1 billion in state and federal funding for broadband investments. Last week, applicants in 15 counties were awarded $580 million to connect 80,000 locations, according to the Texas Broadband Development Office. Federal maps that show where internet connections are needed are being questioned as to their accuracy, The Tribune reported.
“We want to make sure the data being provided to us by the federal government is accurate and up to date,” Greg Conte, director of the TBDO, said.

More buoy barriers added in Rio Grande

Despite a dramatic decrease in border crossings in recent months, Abbott has ordered expansion of the 1,000 feet of orange buoys in the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass, the Houston Chronicle reported.
“We’re not letting up at all; we’re continuing our efforts,” Abbott said.
The barriers have prompted lawsuits from the federal government, which are tied up in an appeals court.
Monthly border crossings have dropped steadily since March. U.S. Customs and Border Protection data for October indicate that 27,000 migrants were encountered that month in the five Texas sectors of the border with Mexico – fewer than the 44,000 monthly migrants encountered in the final months of the first Trump presidency.

Newly purchased ranch could be deportee staging area

A Starr County ranch purchased last month by the state has been offered as a staging area for potential mass deportations promised by President-elect Donald Trump, according to The Washington Post. Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham sent a letter to Trump on Nov. 14 extending the offer.
Tom Homan, former director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and Trump’s pick to be “border czar,” said the incoming administration would “absolutely” use the 1,400-acre parcel of land.
“We absolutely will. When we find somebody — it’s a targeted enforcement operation. When they get arrested, they’ll be detained,” Homan said.
“We feel like this is actually very well-located. The land is very flat there. It’s adjacent to major airports. It’s also adjacent to a bridge over the river,” Buckingham said. “So, if it’s helpful, then I would love to partner up with the federal government. And if it’s not, then we’ll continue to look to ways to be helpful to them.”

Texas still leads nation in job growth

The Lone Star State has again led the nation in job creation over the past 12 months – October 2023 to October 2024 — adding nearly 275,000 nonfarm jobs during that time period.
“With the best business climate in the nation and a skilled and growing workforce, Texas is where innovative entrepreneurs and businesses find the freedom and tools needed to succeed,” Abbott said.
Coming in second in job creation during that same time frame was California, which added 212,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, followed by New York, which added 133,600 jobs.
The state’s unemployment rate has changed little in the past year, reported at 4.1% last month, up just two-tenths of a percentage point from October 2023.

Lawmaker seeks funds to plug wells, cut emissions

A West Texas legislator has introduced bills that would provide millions of dollars to the state to seal abandoned oil and gas wells.
The money would come from taxes being collected from oil and gas companies that now go to schools, highways and the state’s “rainy day fund,” or savings account.
State Rep. Brooks Landgraf, R-Odessa, is seeking to use the money now going to the rainy-day fund that is collected from those companies. The measure would require approval of the Legislature, governor and voters in a November 2025 amendment election.
So-called orphaned wells have proven to be hazardous, with at least eight erupting with briny water since October 2023. For example, a well blew out last December in Imperial that took more than two months and $2.5 million to clean up, according to The Tribune.

Specialty license plate auction draws big bids

The bidding is over for the My Plates Great Plate Auction 2024, with winners spending more than $71,000 on 50 different messages that were offered. The most expensive plate was “ACE,” which sold for $20,500, according to the Chronicle. Coming in a distant second was “006,” a play of James Bond’s 007. It sold for $9,000.
“BOSSMAN” sold for $3,600, while REAL and TEX4S each garnered $2,700. None of those bids compare to the most expensive license plate ever sold in Texas. That was in 2013, when 12THMAN sold for $115,000.
Those Aggies…

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: [email protected]