Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Almost a week into the month, November SNAP funding remains unpaid, leaving millions of Texans, including 1.7 million kids, in a state of food insecurity - for the first time since LBJ: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/05/texas-snap-food-stamp-families-hunger/
...Even when November's payment arrives, Donald Trump's USDA says it will be half the usual amount: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/article/snap-benefit-release-november-21140402.php
While the record-long federal shutdown continues, the Texas comptroller's office has shut down a decades-long program to support historically underutilized, primarily minority-owned small businesses: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/texas-freeze-program-supporting-minority-owned-businesses/285-7a6f3dd5-41a8-423a-aead-cbbb4a28fe17
Democrat Taylor Rehmet's close call with an outright victory in Tuesday's election in Tarrant County is seen as a positive harbinger for progressives moving into the midterm election season: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/05/texas-senate-special-election-democrats-tarrant-county/
...Three progressive wins on the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD board are also seen as a loss of MAGA influence: https://www.houstonpress.com/news/progressives-pick-up-all-3-cy-fair-isd-trustee-seats/
...Governor Abbott has apparently been sent into a panic by the Zohran Mamdani win in NYC - while he's still not set a date for the Texas runoff election: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/greg-abbott-zohran-mamdani-21141018.php
...The massive win for Prop 50 in California will negate - if not surpass - any gains for Donald Trump that may come from our mid-decade redistricting: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/texas-news/california-redistricting-will-erase-gop-gains-from-texas-redrawing-its-political-maps/
Pennsylvania billionaire Jeff Yass, who bankrolled Governor Abbott's final push for private school vouchers, has sunk $100 million into the new MAGA private college University of Austin: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/05/university-austin-jeff-yass-donation-free-tuition/
We're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025
Check out our web store, including our newly-expanded Humans Against Greg Abbott collection: https://store.progresstexas.org/
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
We're the first to talk to Colonel Terry Virts, who had previously announced a run for the U.S. Senate, about his pivot into the race for the U.S. House in the newly-drawn (we think) Congressional District 9 - part of the racist Trump-ordered plan to carve new safe Republican seats out of marginalized communities, and seemingly drawn for the personal advantage of Deer Park Rep. Briscoe Cain. We think it's a great move and salute Colonel Virts for taking on this challenge.
Learn more about Terry Virts and his newly re-launched campaign at https://www.terryvirts.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Huge Democratic gains on Election Night in NYC, California, Virginia, and New Jersey - a harbinger of what's to come in next year's midterms? https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/05/us/politics/democratic-party-mamdani.html
...All 17 Texas constitutional amendments on the ballot passed: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/04/texas-constitution-amendments-propositions/
...In Houston, the CD-18 race unsurprisingly results in a runoff between Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee and former Houston City Council Member Amanda Edwards: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/district-18-runoff-21129180.php
...In Tarrant County, Democratic State Senate candidate Taylor Rehmet came within three points of winning outright - he goes to a runoff against MAGA crusader Leigh Wamsganss: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article312730646.html
...In Austin Prop Q, a 20% hike on local property taxes, failed resoundingly: https://www.statesman.com/news/politics/elections/local/article/austin-proposition-q-fails-2025-election-result-21135217.php
...In San Antonio Prop B, an earmarking of over $300 million for a new San Antonio Spurs arena, narrowly passed: https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/spurs-arena-san-antonio-proposition-b-21135933.php
We're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Less than 8% of Texans have voted so far in the 2025 constitutional amendment election, but we stand a chance of matching the 20-year high in 2023 of 14.5%: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/election-day-updates-21125022.php
...In Houston, turnout is relatively low in spite of a major election in CD-18: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/election-day-updates-21125022.php
...Turnout also lags in Fort Worth, where a major Texas Senate special election is on the ballot: https://fortworthreport.org/2025/11/04/tarrant-voters-weigh-2-republicans-1-democrat-for-texas-senate-election/
...Governor Abbott, likely in a dumb joke, is threatening a "100% tariff" against any New York City resident who tries to move to Texas if Zohran Mamdani wins that city's mayoral race today: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/abbott-mamdani-tariff-joke-21136333.php
Dick Cheney has died at 84 - and his reputation as the right wing Darth Vader of his time is well-deserved: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/former-us-vp-dick-cheney-dead-84-punchbowl-news-says-2025-11-04/
We're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025
Check out our 2025 Texas Statewide Voting Guide, including a link at the bottom for a printable version you CAN take with you to the polls: https://progresstexas.org/blog/2025-texas-statewide-ballot-guide
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Today marks one year to November 3, 2026 - the mid-term election. Mark YOUR commitment to the upcoming year by voting tomorrow: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/22/texas-statewide-propositions-november-ballot-election/
...In particular, be sure to vote NO on Proposition 12, which would give Governor Abbott too much influence over judicial conduct decisions: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/03/texas-prop-12-judicial-conduct-greg-abbott/
The Trump administration has been ordered to tap into available reserves and make full SNAP assistance payments by today: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-administration-must-pay-food-aid-benefits-within-days-judge-says-2025-11-02/
...Even the uncertainty over SNAP has led to a Halloween weekend run on local food banks: https://apnews.com/article/government-shutdown-food-lines-snap-6b55e2c21c0198f3309f3a45a55f33b6
Over a quarter of ICE arrests under Trump have been made in Texas, and under half of those have involved undocumented people with criminal charges or histories: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/03/texas-trump-immigration-crackdown-ice-arrests-deportation/
UT Austin, now two weeks beyond a set deadline to respond, has still not said whether or not they'll sign that "compact" with Donald Trump: https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/students-organize-as-ut-continues-to-drag-its-feet-on-trumps-compact/
In response to Governor Abbott's campaign to tear out rainbow crosswalks, Houston artists and residents have started painting rainbows all over the place: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/houston-texas-rainbow-crosswalk-murals-21122857.php
We're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025
Check out our 2025 Texas Statewide Voting Guide, including a link at the bottom for a printable version you CAN take with you to the polls: https://progresstexas.org/blog/2025-texas-statewide-ballot-guide
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
East Texas farmer and firefighter Bobby Cole has the distinction of being the first to announce a run challenging Governor Greg Abbott, and while that field has gotten more crowded since, he's also distinctive in his grassroots origins - Cole has never held office before, and that's what a lot of his followers like most about him. Progress Texas' Reagan Stone talked to Cole before an audience hosted by the Davis County Democratic Party at the Davis Mountains Resort.
Learn more about Bobby Cole and his campaign for governor at https://www.coleforgovernor.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Our group gripe this week has an obvious target, as Donald Trump, Greg Abbott, Mike Johnson and the rest of MAGA callously threaten millions of Americans using SNAP food assistance benefits with starvation as a political play. As usual, the cruelty is the point - especially horrifying to be happening in 2025 America.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Texas State Senator Sarah Eckhardt has served Austin in the legislature since 2020 after years of local leadership in Travis County, and has recently announced a run for the U.S. House in the newly-redrawn Congressional District 10. The district is drawn for a significant Republican advantage, but potentially in Eckhardt's favor, the incumbent Republican Congressman Michael McCaul has declined to run for re-election - making this an interesting race indeed.
Learn more about Sarah Eckhardt and her run for Congress at https://www.saraheckhardt.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Among those trick-or-treaters you'll see out and about tonight are hundreds of thousands of Texas kids whose parents worry they'll not be able to feed them tomorrow, as Republicans including Governor Greg Abbott refuse to keep SNAP funding flowing: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/texas-democrats-call-on-abbott-to-act-on-snap-funding-during-shutdown/
Democrats are holding out in an attempt to preserve healthcare subsidies that Trump's GOP would allow to expire at the end of the year - but the damage to Texans' insurance premium rates may already be done: https://www.fox4news.com/video/1733159
County-level election officials across Texas have begun the task of investigating the over 2,700 "potential non-citizens" announced by Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/31/texas-county-election-officials-investigate-potential-noncitizens/
We're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025
Check out our 2025 Texas Statewide Voting Guide, including a link at the bottom for a printable version you CAN take with you to the polls: https://progresstexas.org/blog/2025-texas-statewide-ballot-guide
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
'Tis the season for voting and elections, and we're moving into one doozy of an election season in 2026, with the midterm election and the future of our democracy on the line - the time is NOW for ALL of us to individually step up our game. Whether you're just getting started on your activism journey, or you've been in the trenches for awhile, this talk is all about a terrific digital tool you can use to bring your family, friends and neighbors into the fight. Ben Wilbanks is the Managing Director and Lead Trainer for Texas Blue Action, who have developed the nation's most robust relational organizing network via an app called Reach - your ticket to a fun and meaningful way to get your people into motion.
Learn more about the Texas Blue Action Network at https://www.texasblueaction.com/texas-blue-action-network-2mt.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Trump's choice to withhold SNAP food assistance payments resembles a forced starvation - in an armed conflict, that's a war crime, and in peacetime to force political outcomes, that's close to terrorism: https://www.lonestarleft.com/p/texas-house-democrats-form-committee
...Gubernatorial candidate and State Rep. Gina Hinojosa is calling on Governor Greg Abbott to tap into Texas' Rainy Day Fund to keep Texas kids fed: https://x.com/GinaHinojosaTX/status/1983604948429332867
Republicans hope the threat of widespread hunger will motivate Democrats to cave on ACA tax credits - if those expire, Texas will experience an outsized impact of premium increases: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/30/texas-aca-obamacare-health-insurance-open-enrollment/
...As many as one million of the four million Texans using ACA would likely just drop health insurance altogether: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/texas-health-insurance-aca-shutdown-21116950.php
New UT/Texas Politics Project polling shows inflation and healthcare costs at the top of Texans' worries, while many point to bad elected leadership as the cause: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/texans-discouraged-about-economy-skeptical-of-leaders-new-polling-says/
In a bad omen for outcomes in El Paso, a panel of judges has upheld the mid-decade gerrymander of Tarrant County's county commissioner map: https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/appeals-court-upholds-texas-countys-gop-gerrymander/
We're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas - for the first time, featuring live podcast tapings! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025
Check out our 2025 Texas Statewide Voting Guide, including a link at the bottom for a printable version you CAN take with you to the polls: https://progresstexas.org/blog/2025-texas-statewide-ballot-guide
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The looming suspension of SNAP benefits, which will heavily impact Texas, can be traced to ongoing Republican efforts to keep the Epstein files under wraps: https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/the-hunger-games-begin
...The disruption will be felt by all of us, in areas beyond groceries: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/28/texas-snap-benefits-cutoff-groceries-economy-government-shutdown/
...There are many ways to both find and provide help as this intentional, self-inflicted crisis approaches: https://www.reddit.com/r/texas/comments/1oibwix/texas_snap_benefit_pause_heres_how_to_receive_and/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that judges in the state can refuse to conduct marriages - including same-sex marriages - based on their personal religious views: https://www.fox4news.com/news/texas-supreme-court-same-sex-marriages
Multiple advocacy groups for families affected by autism have joined the chorus of voices condemning Ken Paxton's lawsuit against the makers of Tylenol, maintaining that any connection with autism has been repeatedly refuted: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/texas-tylenol-lawsuit-21124150.php
We're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025
Check out our 2025 Texas Statewide Voting Guide, including a link at the bottom for a printable version you CAN take with you to the polls: https://progresstexas.org/blog/2025-texas-statewide-ballot-guide
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
It's official - federal SNAP food assistance benefits will end on Saturday, for the first time in the over six decades since it started under LBJ: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/28/texas-snap-food-stamps-federal-shutdown-explained/
...So, NOW is the time to get ahead of that and make a donation to your local food bank: https://www.feedingtexas.org/
Onetime arch-villain of the GOP Karl Rove fears that, if Texas Republican primary voters nominate Ken Paxton for the U.S. Senate, that seat is likely to flip to the Dems: https://www.alternet.org/karl-rove-paxton-cornyn/
...Paxton, meanwhile, is leaning into RFK Jr.-style crazy and suing the makers of Tylenol, which the tinfoil hat set has decided causes autism: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/28/texas-tylenol-johnson-lawsuit-rfk-ken-paxton-autism/
Meanwhile, in California, almost 4 million early votes have been cast on Prop 50 - that state's Democratic redistricting measure: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/proponents-nov-4-redistricting-ballot-003336125.html?guccounter=1
Trump and MAGA types are now fighting with each other over blame for failing to stop California from wrecking their map-rigging scheme: https://www.axios.com/2025/10/28/gop-blame-game-california-redistricting
We're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025
Check out our 2025 Texas Statewide Voting Guide, including a link at the bottom for a printable version you CAN take with you to the polls: https://progresstexas.org/blog/2025-texas-statewide-ballot-guide
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
We've said it before, and we'll say it again: the Texas Railroad Commission has nothing to do with railroads. It's called that because the petroleum sector and their allies in the Texas Legislature would just as soon you didn't know that the Commission does regulate energy matters in Texas - matters of immense financial and environmental consequence, which under Republican control over the last 30 years, has basically meant a regulatory rubber stamp for that industry.
Houston State Rep. Jon Rosenthal, an expert in the field himself, is looking to make a change at the Texas Railroad Commission, and he joined us for a talk to explain why and how he'd like to achieve that goal.
Learn more about Rep. Rosenthal and his campaign at https://jonrosenthaltx.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Millions of Texans - more people than in any other state - depend on SNAP food assistance, and the Trump administration has chosen to use them as pawns in the ongoing federal shutdown drama: https://apnews.com/article/food-aid-government-shutdown-snap-trump-democrats-8a52a63b26a707ea676962226b090bb1
...Almost two million children in Texas are in the crosshairs: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/millions-of-texas-families-could-lose-snap-benefits-if-shutdown-continues/
...All of this comes as thousands of Texas federal workers have been furloughed or working without pay for almost four weeks: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/27/texas-federal-workers-government-shutdown-impacts/
The University of Texas at Austin, the last institution of the nine offered a "compact" by Donald Trump that is still considering it, is said to be "in talks with the White House": https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2025/10/24/texas-compact-white-house
...Faculty and students are up in arms against it: https://www.texasaft.org/membership/higher-ed/higher-education-news-texas-state-upholds-professors-termination-ut-austin-stays-silent-on-trump-compact/
Austin State Senator Sarah Eckhardt is announcing today a run for the U.S. House in the newly-drawn and Michael McCaul-vacated CD-10: https://www.statesman.com/news/politics/state/article/sarah-eckhardt-congress-campaign-21115760.php
We're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025
Check out our 2025 Texas Statewide Voting Guide, including a link at the bottom for a printable version you CAN take with you to the polls: https://progresstexas.org/blog/2025-texas-statewide-ballot-guide
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Our regular Friday venting session this week features Texas House candidate and longtime Austin labor leader Jeremy Hendricks as our guest for a discussion of all manner of Republican ugly - from homeless crackdowns, to university takeovers, to yanking of food services - and the potential for progressive pushback indicated by the massive No Kings turnout last Saturday - all things considered, there's plenty to push back against.
Learn more about Jeremy and his run for the State House at https://www.hendricksfortexas.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/ - and don't forget to VOTE!
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
The Texas Education Agency has announced its takeover of Fort Worth ISD - behind Houston in 2023, the second-largest district they have overrun: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/23/texas-education-agency-fort-worth-isd-takeover/
Dallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, despite an already-crowded Democratic ticket for Senate, is still considering a run: https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/10/22/congress/jasmine-crockett-texas-senate-00618545
Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson gets congratulations from Donald Trump for riling up Texas MAGA over "potential noncitizens" on our voter rolls - while she ignores actual problems with our state's voter roll maintenance software: https://www.statesman.com/opinion/editorials/article/opinion-texas-election-problem-isn-t-potential-21114375.php
Congrats to our friend and Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver, who is a third-time finalist for the MLS Impact Award: https://www.austinfc.com/news/stuver-named-finalist-for-mls-audi-goals-drive-progress-impact-award
...Check out our recent live recording with Brad at Hopsquad Brewing in north Austin: https://progresstexas.org/podcast/all-star-activism-live-talk-brad-stuver
A new potential explanation for the unexplainable stuff that comes from the Texas State Capitol building? The granite it's built from is radioactive: https://www.kut.org/health/2025-10-23/texas-state-capitol-dome-austin-radioactive-radon-gas-atxplained
We're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025
Check out our 2025 Texas Statewide Voting Guide, including a link at the bottom for a printable version you CAN take with you to the polls: https://progresstexas.org/blog/2025-texas-statewide-ballot-guide
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Folks who have followed Texas politics for awhile will remember Houston businessman Andrew White, who put on a spirited run for governor in 2018, but was edged out in the primary that year. White is back for a second run, and this time, as he says, he's running as an "independent Democrat" - holding that progressive litmus tests and box-checking may be part of what's been holding the party back on statewide wins for three decades now.
Learn more about Andrew White and his campaign at https://andrewwhite.com/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Worry is spreading that the Trump administration is increasingly arming ICE with military-grade weaponry: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/10/23/2349922/-WTF-does-ICE-need-guided-missile-components-for
Texas businesses across a wide range of sectors are being negatively impacted by Trump's immigration crackdown: https://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2025-10-23/the-texas-paradox-businesses-need-more-migrants-while-trump-wants-to-expel-them.html
Among the states, Texas would be most severely impacted by the expiration of ACA tax credits that congressional Democrats are holding out to defend: https://www.axios.com/local/san-antonio/2025/10/23/aca-tax-credits-texas-government-shutdown-health
Food banks across the US and Texas are reeling from the unexpected mid-year slashing of food distribution by the Trump administration - 94 million pounds of expected food deliveries did not show up: https://projects.propublica.org/trump-food-cuts/
UT Austin, alongside Vanderbilt, is one of only two universities among the nine approached by the Trump administration to sign a conservative ideological "compact" who have not yet rejected it: https://www.fox7austin.com/news/new-ut-austin-president-sworn-amid-trumps-higher-education-compact.amp
...UT's chapter of the American Association of University Professors has called on their administration not to capitulate to Trump: https://www.expressnews.com/news/education/article/university-texas-austin-trump-funding-deal-compact-21110442.php
...Amnesty International calls the "compact" a "surrender (of) their right to freedom of thought, expression and discourse": https://www.amnestyusa.org/press-releases/academic-freedom-cannot-exist-under-political-coercion-president-trumps-compact-threatens-higher-education/
We're excited to see YOU at one (or both!) of our 2025 Holiday Parties this December in Austin and Dallas! Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2025
Check out our 2025 Texas Statewide Voting Guide, including a link at the bottom for a printable version you CAN take with you to the polls: https://progresstexas.org/blog/2025-texas-statewide-ballot-guide
Thanks for listening! Our monthly donors form the backbone of our funding, and if you're a regular, we'd like to invite you to join the team! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:
Without notifying city officials, Governor Greg Abbott has sent Texas DPS officers and other state agencies into Austin's homeless encampments to arrest and disperse them: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/21/greg-abbott-homelessness-sweeps-austin/
..Meanwhile, the Governor was in Cypress yesterday at an event at which he pledged to "turn Harris County dark red": https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/gov-abbott-vows-turn-harris-county-dark-red-21111657.php
Also in Houston, the City tore out the Montrose rainbow crosswalk on Abbott's orders overnight Monday morning - four protestors present were arrested: https://thebarbedwire.com/2025/10/20/houston-removes-rainbow-pride-crosswalk-abbott/
...In San Antonio, the local LGBTQ+ advisory board is calling on the city to resist the removal of its rainbow crosswalk, including the threat of lawsuits against the state: https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/san-antonio-rainbow-crosswalk-fight-21110014.php
...In Dallas, Oak Lawn United Baptist Church is painting its massive concrete steps in rainbow colors in an impressive and inspiring display of solidarity: https://dallasvoice.com/olumc-steps-up-to-the-fight/
Perhaps surprising to see Texas cattle ranchers as the latest group to speak up against Trump policies, as the President advocates for more beef imports from Argentina: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/sid-miller-trump-beef-prices-argentina-21111963.php
As the federal government shutdown begins its third week, with Democrats holding out in defense of affordable health insurance, the Trump administration has slashed a program designed to help Texas sign up for the ACA: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/22/texas-aca-navigator-funding/
Trump's immigration crackdown is significantly weakening the Texas job market: https://www.tpr.org/news/2025-10-21/federal-immigration-crackdown-slowing-texas-job-growth
Young Republicans of Texas have expressed solidarity with that other young Republicans group recently disbanded over racist and otherwise disgusting views expressed in that group's chat: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/young-republicans-texas-group-chat-21109613.php
Check out our 2025 Texas Statewide Voting Guide, including a link at the bottom for a printable version you CAN take with you to the polls: https://progresstexas.org/blog/2025-texas-statewide-ballot-guide
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