Austin, TX
TX Law Stands Strong Against Anti-Israel Agitators' Demands
As anti-Israel demonstrations sweep college campuses nationwide, legal constraints are preventing universities from meeting agitators’ demands to divest from Israel in Texas.
Universities in the Lone Star State have seen their share of anti-Israel protests and encampments. Most notably, University of Texas campuses in Austin, Dallas, and Arlington have seen considerable activity, leading to the arrest of hundreds of student protesters and anti-Israel agitators.
The demonstrators’ central demand, not just in Texas but across the country, has been for their universities to divest from any financial ties with Israel. However, Texas law prohibits such a move.
In 2017, Gov. Greg Abbott signed an anti-boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) bill into law with respect to Israel, barring state governmental entities from entering into contracts with or investing in companies that boycott Israel.
The bill was authored by Rep. Phil King (R-Weatherford) and Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe) and ensures that state contracts are only given to businesses that state they will not boycott or divest from Israel during the contract. According to King, Texas’ anti-BDS bill is the strongest in the country.
“In 2016, there was this growing movement of cities, counties, states, nations, and businesses deciding they were going to boycott Israel to try to bankrupt them economically,” King explained to The Dallas Express. The growing movement led him to draft the anti-BDS law.
“Part of the reason was, Texas does a lot of business with Israel,” said King. “They’re our friend, we have a lot of tourists, and they’re one of our largest trade partners. It’s wrong to try to destroy them.”
Abbott suggested as much at the time of signing, stressing the longstanding ties between Israel and Texas.
“As Israel’s number one trading partner in the United States, Texas is proud to reaffirm its support for the people of Israel, and we will continue to build on our historic partnership,” said Abbott in a press release. “Anti-Israel policies are anti-Texas policies, and we will not tolerate such actions against an important ally.”
In 2021, the Texas Holocaust, Genocide, and Antisemitism Advisory Commission was created to monitor and combat antisemitism in Texas. The statute that launched the organization used the international definition of antisemitism: “a certain perception of Jews that may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. The term includes rhetorical and physical acts of antisemitism directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals or their property or toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
King said that the commission came to him last year to report “growing whispers” of antisemitism on college campuses.
Following the report, King, alongside Rep. Dennis Paul (R-Houston), wrote a bill to prohibit academic boycotts of Israel and other foreign countries at public colleges should they prevent a student or faculty member from studying or conducting research in or about the country or interacting with the country’s scholars or representatives.
The bill states that a taxpayer-funded college is allowed to boycott a foreign country only if it is listed by the U.S. State Department as a sponsor of terrorism. Cuba, North Korea, Iran, and Syria are the only countries currently with that designation. It went into effect in September 2023.
Protesters at UT Arlington have called for their university to ban school-sponsored study-abroad trips to Israel. Doing so would fall under academic boycotting of Israel and is now illegal.
“I think it’s interesting when I hear the protesters calling for the University of Texas to economically divest from Israel,” King told DX. “They’re not allowed by law to do that. The bottom line is that Texas has made it illegal for state colleges and universities, community colleges, too, to do any economic or academic boycott of Israel, or in any way to promote antisemitism or accept antisemitism on their campus.”
Following the October terrorist attacks against Israel by Hamas, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton released an advisory letter emphasizing the importance of standing against antisemitism, as previously covered by DX.
“Given the recent brutal Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel, it is more important than ever to enforce public policy supportive of one of America’s closest allies and a beacon of freedom in the Middle East,” read Paxton’s letter.
“Since 2017, the Texas Legislature has passed, and Governor Greg Abbott has signed into law, a series of restrictions on the ability of Governmental Entities to do business with companies that boycott energy companies, discriminate against firearm entities or associations, or boycott Israel,” he wrote. “Pursuant to these laws, no Texas Governmental Entity may enter into a contract with such boycotters or discriminators for the purchase of goods or services with a value of at least $100,000.”
AUSTIN (KXAN) — As flood threats continue across parts of South Central Texas, Austin Pets Alive! has activated emergency response efforts to support animal shelters affected by the inclement weather.
In a social media post, APA! wrote, “We began offering aid last night, working to secure fosters for 10 dogs in the Castroville shelter, an open-air shelter that sits at the bottom of a valley.”
APA! said the situation escalated overnight with additional shelters reporting flooding. One shelter confirmed that floodwaters reached its facility, APA! added.
Communities overwhelmed due to weather include Uvalde, Castroville and Sabinal.
The nonprofit is asking the Austin community to foster, adopt or donate to free up capacity for animals displaced by the disaster. APA! needs to clear out its facilities to assist the animals in need of shelter.
Here are ways you can help:
- Adopt: APA! is offering a “Name Your Own Adoption Fee” on all animals.
- Foster: The shelter is seeking foster homes for a minimum of three weeks.
- Donate: Proceeds will fund vans and response teams setting up a staging and triage center at the heart of the disaster zone, along with an expanded stockpile of preventatives, PPE and additional supplies.
If you would like to donate, click here.
AUSTIN, Texas — With heavy rain expected across parts of Central Texas this week and flooding top of mind, the city of Austin is proposing to put more money toward flood mitigation improvements in next year’s budget.
The proposal would invest in new flood infrastructure, add staff, and help move flood mitigation projects forward, according to city leaders. Austin City Councilmember Ryan Alter said the investments are aimed at keeping the city prepared for future flooding.
Residents who live near waterways say they have seen how quickly conditions can change. David Haderspeck, who lives near Shoal Creek, said the creek “fills up pretty fast” and “gets a lot higher than you’d expect.” He said he has watched the water rise dramatically after rain.
“I’ve seen it come up probably 10 to 15 feet to the ordinary high-water mark,” he said.
This week, parts of Central Texas, including the Hill Country, are expected to get heavy downpours. While Austin is not expecting the same impacts as parts of the Hill Country, leaders said the city is using this year’s budget planning to continue investing in flood safety.
Alter said the city has the expertise to address flooding risks but needs to follow through on projects.
ALSO| Central Texas urged to prepare as heavy rainfall sits in forecast over next two days
“We have the experts. We just have to put the plans into practice, and that’s what we’re doing in this budget,” he said.
Under the budget proposal, the city would provide about $134.5 million for the Drainage Utility Fund, which helps pay for flood mitigation, drainage infrastructure and watershed protection efforts.
Alter said the proposal would shift more of the funding balance toward building new infrastructure.
“What we’re going to do is shift that balance a little bit more to building new infrastructure so that when we do have large flooding events, we’ve got that infrastructure in place to keep people safe,” he said.
The proposal also adds staff and invests in both new and existing flood mitigation projects across the city.
Asked whether the proposed investments would be enough moving forward, Alter said, “I do…I think we’re doing the right thing and just making sure that our residents have the infrastructure to stay safe.”
Alter said heavy rain cannot be prevented, but the city’s goal is to have infrastructure in place to help keep people safe when it happens.
FILE – LinkedIn logos are displayed on an iPhone and computer screen. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Attorney General’s office has opened an investigation into LinkedIn over allegations that the professional networking platform misleads consumers with advertising and profiting from misleading or fake job listings, otherwise known as “ghost jobs.”
LinkedIn investigation
In this photo illustration a Linkedin logo seen displayed on a mobile phone. (Photo Illustration by Stanislav Kogiku/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
What we know:
Texas announced on Tuesday it has issued a Civil Investigative Demand (CID) seeking documents, data and internal communications related to LinkedIn’s advertising, marketing, job listing verification practices and its Premium subscription services.
The investigation centers on whether LinkedIn violated Texas’ consumer protection laws by promoting paid subscription services while allegedly failing to disclose that some job listings on the platform may not actually be representative of hiring opportunities.
What is a ‘ghost job’?
An image of a woman holding a cell phone in front of a LinkedIn logo displayed on a computer screen. On Tuesday, January 12, 2021, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Dig deeper:
LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft and the world’s largest professional networking platform, with more than 1 billion registered users worldwide.
A “ghost job” generally refers to a position advertised online that either is no longer available or that an employer has no immediate intention of filling. The attorney general’s office cited independent studies estimating that ghost jobs account for between one-fifth and one-third of online job postings.
Texas AG targets Premium Subscription Fees
Photographer: Mark Felix/Bloomberg via Getty Images
What they’re saying:
According to the office of the attorney general, LinkedIn does not independently verify the hiring status of most job listings on its platform. Ken Paxton’s office alleges that the company’s marketing for its Premium subscription services does not disclose that a significant number of postings could be inactive, unfilled or not reflect genuine employment opportunity.
“I will use every resource available to my office to help job-seeking Texans find and secure real employment opportunities,” Paxton said in a statement. “LinkedIn has a duty to provide the services it advertises and ensure that consumers paying for Premium subscriptions are receiving access to legitimate job postings.”
Texas officials said LinkedIn’s Premium Career and Premium Business subscriptions cost about $39.99 and $69.99 per month, respectively, and are marketed to jobseekers looking to improve their employment prospects.
What’s next:
The investigation does not include any formal allegations of wrongdoing, and no lawsuit has been filed.
The Source: Information in this article was provided by the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
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