Austin, TX
Thousands of bills filed for 2025 Texas legislative session
AUSTIN, Texas — True to tradition, Democratic Sen. Judith Zaffirini, dean of the Texas Senate, this week filed the first Senate bill ahead of the 89th Texas legislative session.
“Before a session is over, we’re already working for the next session,” Zaffirini said.
The first 40 bills in the Senate are reserved for the lieutenant governor’s priorities. Zaffirini’s Senate Bills 41 to 74 have a large focus on education. She reintroduced a bill that would allocate state funds to provide free pre-kindergarten to families.
“The reason I keep filing is that I believe so strongly in it and that times change, people change, situations change,” Zaffirini said.
Education is a priority for many Democrats in the lower chamber. Rep. Mary González introduced multiple bills that focus on providing quality education from early childhood through higher education.
“I really think of all my bills as a birth through career type of agenda. So we have everything from inclusive child care to exploring the ways in which special education is addressed in higher education,” González said.
Education is a large priority for both parties, though many Republicans support the idea of school vouchers to allocate taxpayer dollars towards private schools.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said last week that private school vouchers are his priority. His preferred bill has not been filed but is expected to be debated in the first 60 days of the session during which only his priorities are taken up.
This year, college students across the state spoke out against the law that removed diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices from their campuses. Democratic Rep. John Bucy filed a bill to repeal the ban while Republican Rep. Carl Tepper wants to take it one step further.
“We just want to put everyone on a level playing field,” Tepper said.
He filed a bill to ban DEI offices and initiatives from government entities. He expects this bill to be successful.
“The offices of diversity, equity and inclusion, which I think is a misnomer, they were really weaponized to be sort of a reverse discrimination against Asians or white people and others, and showing favoritism of some races over others and certainly sexual orientation as well,” Tepper said.
Republican lawmakers are also focused on a number of bills involving border security.
Rep. Terri Leo-Wilson filed a bill in the House to prohibit undocumented immigrants from receiving in-state tuition by requiring a university to notify law enforcement of undocumented students.
She was unavailable for an interview but said in a statement: “This legislation is a top priority of the Texas GOP, and it honors the message Texas voters delivered when they elected me and other like-minded conservatives to the Texas House.”
Lawmakers will gavel in January. Zaffirini — who has never missed a vote during her tenure — is looking forward to the first debate.
Austin, TX
Texas Longhorns Release First Injury Report vs. Kentucky Wildcats
AUSTIN — The Texas Longhorns and Kentucky Wildcats have released their initial student-athlete availability report ahead of Saturday’s meeting in Austin.
Texas is listing receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. as questionable due to a foot injury while linebacker Morice Blackwell Jr. is questionable after sitting out for the 20-10 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks last week.
“He’s progressing this week,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said of Moore Jr. during Wednesday’s SEC Weekly Teleconference. “We’ll see if he’ll be ready to go here Saturday, but we’re surely a better team when he’s out there.”
Fortunately for Texas, running back Jaydon Blue was not listed on the report after being seen in a sling following the Arkansas game.
Here’s the full report for both teams:
Sarkisian provided an injury update on Moore Jr., Blue and Blackwell Jr. on Monday during his weekly press conference.
“I think Blue’s good,” Sarkisian said. “Like I said, he went with us today and worked this morning. So we’ll see how it goes. … Mo Blackwell was out last week. … I’m hopeful we can get him back this week. We’ll see how it goes. … DeAndre got nicked up during the game with a foot injury. Again, those two guys (Blackwell) are integral parts to our program, not only on offense and defense, but on special teams. They’re critical. So hopefully we get both those guys back.”
No. 3 Texas and Kentucky will kick off from DKR on Saturday at
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Austin, TX
UT Energy Expertise To Guide New Gulf Coast Hydrogen Hub, Bolster U.S. Energy Supply
AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas at Austin will partner with industry and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations to build and expand a hub for hydrogen energy production along the Texas Gulf Coast that will help increase and diversify the nation’s energy supply. UT serves as founding member and lead academic organization.
The HyVelocity Hub (HyV), a regional energy consortium, aims to become the largest hydrogen hub in the nation. It will leverage the region’s high concentration of existing hydrogen production and end-use assets to develop low-carbon intensity hydrogen that can power trucks, industrial processes, ammonia production, refining and petrochemical production, and marine shipping fuel.
“Texas is the nation’s energy capital, and UT is the energy university, and we are no stranger to playing a leading role in America’s energy innovation,” said UT President Jay Hartzell. “The success of the HyVelocity Hydrogen Hub is critical to our nation’s future energy security. We are excited to work with our industry partners and apply our vast energy, business and policy expertise to develop the hydrogen workforce and accelerate production along the Gulf Coast.”
UT will provide expertise to support community benefits activities and hydrogen workforce development efforts. UT, through the IC2 Institute and the RESET lab in the Cockrell School of Engineering, has a significant track record of working with over 80 communities in Texas and bordering states to understand community needs and connect these to economic development initiatives to improve the lives of all community members. The hydrogen proto-hub demonstration facility at the Center for Electromechanics will serve as a key resource for hands-on workforce training activities. UT researchers will also conduct life-cycle and techno-economic analyses for the projects. For example, they will provide the analyses required for meeting emissions criteria, clean hydrogen standards, and cost benchmarks, and will report these data to the Department of Energy.
“UT Austin’s role in the HyVelocity Hydrogen Hub will be vital to both providing the research and expertise needed to accelerate the global market for hydrogen, and to developing the workforce needed to support the industry’s advancement over the long term in Texas and the Gulf Coast,” said Brian Korgel, the Rashid Engineering Regents Chair Professor in the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering and the director of the UT Energy Institute. “We are proud to be part of this important project that will advance secure and sustainable energy in the U.S. and all over the world.”
HyV’s work will be at the forefront of maintaining and expanding Texas as a global leader in hydrogen energy development. With $22 million in the first tranche of funding, HyVelocity is expected to create up to 45,000 well-paying jobs over its lifetime and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 7 million metric tons per year — equivalent to the annual emissions of more than 1.5 million gasoline-powered cars. The Department of Energy is investing $1.2 billion in the project.
As the nation’s premier university for energy innovation and excellence, UT brings an unmatched scale, depth and breadth of expertise and a pragmatic approach to advancing solutions across the full spectrum of energy. Situated in the heart of Texas, UT is in the center of the energy capital of the world. The University boasts numerous top-10 academic programs and a vast community of minds spanning a multitude of energy departments, centers and institutes. UT’s extensive industry partnerships and field research extend from the oil fields of West Texas to the other side of the world, with faculty, students and staff engaged in applied research in hydrogen, carbon capture, wind, solar, batteries and more.
Austin, TX
Texas offers 1,400-acre ranch to build deportation facilities
AUSTIN, Texas — The state of Texas is offering to give over 1,400 acres of land near the U.S.-Mexico border to the incoming Trump administration to use for deportation facilities.
In a letter to President-elect Donald Trump, Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham formally offered a 1,402-acre ranch–located 35 miles west of McAllen, Texas–to help assist in a mass deportation effort.
“My office is fully prepared to enter into an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or the United States Border Patrol to allow a facility to be built for the processing, detention, and coordination of the largest deportation of violent criminals in the nation’s history,” the letter reads.
The land, located in Starr County, was purchased by the Texas General Land Office on Oct. 23, 2024. Less than 24 hours after buying the land, Buckingham’s office granted a 1.45-mile long easement to allow the state’s border wall to be built across the land.
According to Buckingham’s letter, the previous owner of the ranch refused to allow a wall to be built on her property and “actively blocked law enforcement from accessing the property.”
“I am committed to using every available means at my disposal to gain complete operational security of our border,” the letter states.
Buckingham later spoke to Fox News to discuss her plan to gift the land, and she said she is “100% on board with the Trump administration’s pledge to get these criminals out of our country, and we are more than happy to offer our resources to facilitate those deportations of these violent criminals.”
Throughout his campaign, Trump promised to conduct one of the nation’s largest mass deportations of undocumented immigrants in American history.
It is estimated that over 11 million undocumented immigrants currently live in the U.S., and any mass deportation operation would require a large amount of funding, manpower and resources.
Trump previously suggested he would use the National Guard, and maybe even the active military, to target undocumented immigrants.
Texas will likely play a crucial part in the enforcement of Trump’s immigration plans. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has already made border enforcement one of his top priorities over the past couple of years with his multibillion-dollar border security effort–Operation Lone Star.
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