MRT: Texas A&M Receives $265M in Federal Funds to Mass Produce Vaccine; AG Paxton: Local Health Authorities Can't Shut Down All Schools; Gonzales Wins CD-23 Primary Runoff; Trump in W. TX Today
Here's What You Need to Know in Texas Today.
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BY: @MattMackowiak
WEDNESDAY – 07/29/20
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TOP NEWS
"Texas A&M to lead mass production of COVID vaccine candidate with $265 million in federal money,"The Houston Chronicle's Todd Ackerman -- "Texas A&M University has been selected to lead the effort producing mass quantities of one coronavirus vaccine candidate selected as part of the Trump administration’s plan to make such shots available to the U.S. population in record time.
A university center — opened three years ago to develop and manufacture drugs to fight bioterrorist threats and future pandemics — will receive roughly $265 million in federal money to manufacture up to 100 million doses of the vaccine under a plan announced Monday by President Donald Trump.
“We’ve been preparing for this since we got federal authority to build the center,” said John Sharp, chancellor of the Texas A&M System. “We’re pleased to be part of the effort to save lives and protect the country.”
The Texas A&M center’s mass production of the vaccine, made by Novavax Inc., likely would begin in early 2021 if ongoing trials show the company’s candidate is safe and effective. The candidate is one of five that have been selected for Operation Warp Speed, the ambitious project the administration touts will result in at least one licensed vaccine by the end of the year to be delivered to large numbers of people early next year." Houston Chronicle
"Texas families now have until Aug. 21 to apply for food aid to make up for school meals,"The Texas Tribune's Stacy Fernandez -- "Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday that he has extended the deadline to apply for the Pandemic EBT card, which pays $285 for each student who received free and reduced-price meals, to Aug. 21.
The federal benefit for lower-income students is intended to fill the gap caused when schools shut down in the spring because of the pandemic. The deadline had previously been extended from the end of June to the end of July.
Food policy advocates said these extensions are necessary to give more time to the families of about 800,000 eligible Texas children who have yet to apply for the federal program.
As of July 17, a little more than 20% of the 3.6 million eligible Texas school children had not been signed up for the program, according to Texas Department of Agriculture data, said Rachel Cooper, a senior policy analyst with Every Texan, a left-leaning think tank previously known as the Center for Public Policy Priorities.
"We’re pleased with how many families have so far received this benefit, but there are still thousands of eligible families in our communities that can apply for assistance,” Wayne Salter, Texas Health and Human Services’ access and eligibility services deputy executive commissioner, said in a written statement." Texas Tribune
"'Miracle': 2 hurt when plane crashes in Houston neighborhood," viaAP-- "Two people were injured when a single-engine airplane crashed in a residential area in Houston early Tuesday, authorities said.
The airplane hit a tree and landed in a front yard shortly before 2 a.m. Tuesday. The Cy-Fair Fire Department said two people were taken to a Houston hospital, including one person who had to be extricated from the plane.
Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Richard StandifertoldThe Houston Chronicle that the pilot dispatched an emergency call after the plane lost power.
“It’s a miracle they didn’t hit a house,” Standifer said.
Houston TV station KHOU reported that the aircraft was registered to a flight school and plane rental company that operated out of the Sugar Land airport, southwest of Houston. Flight records showed that the plane was traveling from Tyler to Sugar Land at the time of the crash, the station reported." AP
STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
"Texas attorney general says local health authorities cannot “indiscriminately” shut down schools,"The Texas Tribune's Aliyya Swaby -- "Local health officials do not have the authority to shut down all schools in their vicinity while COVID-19 cases rise, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in nonbinding guidance Tuesday that contradicts what the Texas Education Agency has told school officials.
Shortly after Paxton's announcement, the Texas Education Agency updated its guidance to say it will not fund school districts that keep classrooms closed because of a local health mandate, citing the attorney general's letter. Districts can receive state funding if they obtain TEA's permission to stay closed, as allowed for up to eight weeks with some restrictions.
The change represents an about-face for the agency, which previously said it would fund districts that remained closed under a mandate. It will impact schools in at least 16 local authorities, many in the most populous counties, that have issued school closure mandates in the past month.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, whose county is among those with a mandate to close schools, said local officials will continue to make decisions to keep students safe "regardless of what opinion General Paxton comes up with."
"The only way that it would really screw things up is if Abbott tried to take away the control from the local groups," Jenkins said." Texas Tribune
"Schools risk losing Texas funding if they shutter under local health orders,"The Austin American-Statesman's Melissa Taboada -- "Local health authorities can’t force schools to shut down to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, but such decisions should be left to the leaders of public and private schools, according to new guidance by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Local health authorities across the state, including in Travis County, have issued orders that would delay the start of in-person instruction of school. Earlier this month, the Texas Education Agency softened its stance on in-person instruction mandates, defaulting to health authorities that issued orders to keep school doors closed and creating guidelines that said school districts would remain fully funded by offering remote instruction so long as such local mandates were in place.
But Paxton’s guidance prompted the Texas Education Agency on Tuesday to rescind those rules.
“As a state agency, we must — and will — comply with the Attorney General’s guidance,” said Education Commissioner Mike Morath. “Consequently, a blanket order closing schools does not constitute a legally issued closure order for purposes of funding solely remote instruction for an indefinite period of time. However, another valid funding exception may apply. ... Protecting the health of students, teachers, and staff remains our first priority.”" Austin American-Statesman
2020
"Trump seeks out loyal donors in West Texas fracking fields,"AP's Ellen Knickmeyer and Jonathan Lemire -- "President Donald Trump’s visit to a U.S. fracking hub on the West Texas plains comes during the state’s fierce coronavirus outbreak and a global oil and gas glut that is putting the squeeze on his loyal donors in the petroleum industry.
Trump is combining some fundraising Wednesday with his first trip to an oil and gas rig and to his first visit as president to the Permian Basin. He’ll pull in up to $100,000 a person at a roundtable with supporters.
“The amount of money might be slightly off because the markets are down and they’re suffering a bit,” said Bill Miller, a prominent lobbyist and consultant in Austin. “But it’s the kind of industry that remembers their friends through thick and thin, and Trump has been their friend.”
Texas over the past month has experienced a dramatic spike in newly confirmed coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and fatalities. The state became one of the nation’s hot spots as Texas politicians debated masks and other measures.
The pandemic and the intensive oil and gas production that Trump encouraged have contributed to a stark drop in global energy demand and to market oversupply, driving down oil and gas prices and hitting the industry and economy.
Trump’s government has exerted itself for the oil and gas industry at least as hard it has any other sector. That includes rolling back environmental and public health protections while promoting a technology-driven surge in U.S. oil and gas production — begun under President Barack Obama — as part of what Trump describes as an American march to global energy dominance.
His administration has moved to open up vast wilderness areas to oil and gas interests over the objections of environmental groups. Trump also has sought to override various regional objections to oil and gas pipelines with executive orders.
And next month, the administration is expected to announce its latest effort blocking regulation of the industry’s emissions of methane, a potent agent of climate change. West Texas activists say the methane emissions are part of a too-little-regulated industry’s assault on the air, water and public health in the region’s yearslong expansion of oil and gas production. Successful legal challenges stopped the administration’s earlier attempts.
When one is flying at night into the West Texas city of Odessa, among the areas Trump is due to visit, “it looks like a huge birthday cake, there are so many flares out here” from facilities burning off methane as an oil and gas byproduct, said the Rev. Gene Collins, a civil rights and environment and public health activist in the city.
“There’s already methane emissions like you wouldn’t believe in West Texas,” Collins said. He added that he was one of many in his town using a nebulizer to deal with breathing problems he blames on oil and gas operations. “There’s a definite effect on the health of individuals here.”
Texas-based environmental advocates like Sharon Wilson, who uses thermography imaging to capture methane emissions not visible to the eye, describe environment-damaging oil and gas emissions surging during the fracking boom and now.
The American Petroleum Institute trade group during this presidential election cycle — featuring Democrats calling for the country’s most aggressive action yet to slow climate change — has stepped up efforts to highlight what it says are industry efforts to cut methane.
Frank Macchiarola, the trade group’s senior vice president for policy, said emission rates in the Permian Basin have fallen despite the boom. It “demonstrates how the industry is meeting this challenge and strengthening its environmental performance,” Macchiarola said." AP
"Gonzales ekes out narrow win in Congressional District 23 Republican runoff,"The San Antonio Express-News' John MacCormack -- "After nearly two weeks of nerve-wracking vote counting and canvassing, it all came down to Winkler County (pop. 7,700) in a far corner of the Permian Basin oil patch.
On Monday afternoon, local Republican officials there finally reported their canvass results, the last of the 29 counties in the 23rd Congressional District to do so.
And oft-ignored Winkler provided the final election surprise, as Tony Gonzales’s narrow 10-vote lead over Raul Reyes jumped to 46 votes.
“The early votes were added in twice. We caught it right after the election. It was taken care of in the canvas,” explained County Clerk Pam Greene.
With that, Navy veteran Gonzales emerged as the apparent winner of the Republican primary for a key swing district that stretches from San Antonio to El Paso.
Official final results have not yet been posted by the Secretary of State, but according to Gonzales’ campaign staff, the final tally was 12,342 votes for Gonzales and 12,296 for his opponent, Raul Reyes." San Antonio Express-News
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
"Trump administration won't accept new DACA applications,"AP's Sophia Tareen and Elliot Spaga -- "The Trump administration said Tuesday that it will reject new applications and shorten renewal periods for an Obama-era program that shields young people from deportation, taking a defiant stance after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to let it be scrapped completely.
The move, detailed in a memo from Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, ended a month of uncertainty about how the administration would respond to its Supreme Court defeat in an election year that has President Donald Trump looking for ways to energize his base.
Wolf said the administration may try to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program again, casting it as a law enforcement issue that could contribute to illegal immigration. He said the federal government needs more time to consider next steps, presenting the measures as a temporary change.
“DACA makes clear that, for certain large classes of individuals, DHS will at least tolerate, if not affirmatively sanction, their ongoing violation of the immigration laws,” Wolf wrote in the memo.
About 650,000 people are part of DACA, which allows young immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children to work and shields them from deportation. Roughly 66,000 people meet age requirements to apply, according to the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute.
The government will deny all new applications, limit renewals to one year instead of two, and deny requests by DACA recipients to visit their home countries unless there are “exceptional circumstances.” Recipients may seek permission to return home for family events, such as funerals or weddings, and other reasons, though the Trump administration has generally denied them.
The Supreme Court ruled last month that Trump failed to follow rule-making procedures when he tried to end the program, but the justices kept a window open for him to try again.
The White House has been devising plans to make another push to end DACA, though it was not immediately clear whether he would make the politically sensitive move before November’s election. Democratic rival Joe Biden wants to keep DACA unconditionally.
A federal judge in Maryland ruled earlier this month that the program should be restored to its original form, but the administration was mum until Tuesday on whether it would start accepting new applications. The White House anticipates legal challenges.
The administration’s monthlong silence had unnerved many DACA recipients and those who wanted to join. U.S. District Judge Paul Grimm of Maryland, an appointee of President Barack Obama, has given the administration until the end of Friday to update the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ website and start adequately explaining why applications are rejected.
Legal experts were skeptical of the Trump administration’s authority to roll back parts of the program.
“This is a move that is in defiance of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling and a federal court ruling,” said Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, an immigration law professor at Penn State Law in University Park, Pennsylvania. “It’s a lawless landscape that we are in.”" AP
REMAINDERS
TEXAS RANGERS: "Kelly takes no-hit bid into 7th as Dbacks beat Rangers 4-1" AP
HOUSTON ASTROS: "Benches clear as Dodgers beat Astros 5-2" AP
HOUSTON ASTROS: "Astros pick up Baker's contract option for 2021 season" AP
'MACK ON POLITICS' PODCAST
LATEST "MACK ON POLITICS" PODCAST: John Solomon is our returning guest for the 197th episode.
John is the co-author of the new book, “Fallout: Nuclear Bribes, Russian Spies, and the Washington Lies that Enriched the Clinton and Biden Dynasties”.
In this conversation, we explore the purpose of the book, what the central revelation is, how Uranium sales and Ukraine fit in, what he’s learned about the Steele Dossier, what his reporting has found about Roger Stone, George Papadopoulos and Carter Page, what he expected from the Durham Report, what questions he still has about the false Russian collusion story, how he answers his critics, and why he started his own news site.
Available on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher and on the web at http://www.MackOnPoliticsPodcast.com.
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