- Paxton Whistleblowers Obtain $6.6 Million Judgment Against Office of the Attorney General
- Abbott Cites Shambolic Elections in Harris County in Waiting to Call CD 18 Special Election
- Patrick Holds Press Conference on Senate Priorities
Paxton Whistleblowers Obtain $6.6 Million Judgment Against Office of the Attorney General
State District Judge Catherine Mauzy rendered a judgment of more than $6.6 million on Friday against the Office of the Attorney General in a long-running lawsuit brought by four whistleblowers who alleged that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton improperly terminated them after they reported allegations of misconduct to the authorities.
The judgment comes after the Texas Supreme Court issued a ruling in November denying an attempt by the whistleblowers to depose Paxton and three senior aides, finding that the Office of the Attorney General’s liability under the Whistleblower Act was uncontested. The Texas Supreme Court noted that the Office of the Attorney General had “elected not to dispute the Plaintiffs’ lawsuit as to any issue” and had consented to “the entry of judgment” in favor of the whistleblowers.
Shortly after the judgment was issued, Paxton released a statement saying that his office would appeal. In response to Paxton’s statement, Blake Brickman, one of the whistleblower plaintiffs in the lawsuit, posted on X, “Paxton now wants to appeal? He literally already admitted he broke the law to [the Texas Supreme Court] and the Travis County District Court – all to stop his own deposition. Truly lawless and shameless.”
Abbott Cites Shambolic Elections in Harris County in Waiting to Call CD 18 Special Election
As Democrat leaders such as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries are threatening to sue Governor Greg Abbott to call a special election to fill the vacancy in Congressional District 18 caused by the passing of Congressman Sylvester Turner, Abbott has said that Harris County’s history of being a “repeat failure” in conducting elections necessitates him setting an election date that gives Harris County “adequate time to operate a fair and accurate election.”
Abbott posted a video clip of an interview with Austin television station KXAN on his social media accounts, during which he discussed the timing of the special election.
“That election is in Harris County, and Harris County is a repeat failure as it concerns operating elections. Had I called that very quickly, it could have led to a failure in that election, just like Harris County has failed in other elections. They need to have adequate time to operate a fair and accurate election, not a crazy election like what they’ve conducted in the past. I will be announcing that sometime soon, but I want to make sure that Harris County has all the opportunity to get this right, unlike what they’ve done in the past.”
Among the recent controversies surrounding the conduct of elections in Harris County was the 2022 race for the 180thDistrict Court. Visiting Judge David Peeples found that the “true outcome cannot be determined” and ordered a new election.
Patrick Holds Press Conference on Senate Priorities
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick held a press conference on Thursday, providing status updates on several of the State Senate’s priority issues. Here are some of the highlights from Patrick’s remarks:
On the Texas House and Speaker Dustin Burrows: “I have confidence in speaker Burrows. Everything he has said has been, I would say, we’re singing from the same songbook. But now, during these next eight to nine weeks, the execution has to take place in the House. If they’re still at a slow pace in another two weeks, I’ll get greatly concerned because time is critical. But I believe Speaker Burrows is committed to what he’s promised, and that includes passing school choice and a litany of conservative bills.”
On property tax relief: “I believe that working with the Speaker and the Governor, we can get that homestead exemption at $200,000 this year for seniors and again, that will wipe out almost every senior from having to pay any [maintenance and operations] school tax, which is the biggest part of their bill.” Later in the press conference, Patrick said that in addition to increasing the homestead exemption, there would also be “some combination of compression” and business tax cuts.
On legislation allocating $500 million for film incentives: “There’s a lot that’s kind of misunderstood by some who haven’t looked at the bill. But we received letters yesterday from almost all of the Christian and faith-based filmmakers in the country, which would mean the world. And they said, with this bill, we will become the faith-based and family film capital of the world. We want to put Hollywood and their values out of business. We want to make it Texas values. And, of course, we’re making other films as well. For every dollar that we invest, we get about $4.60 back. That’s a 400%-plus return.”
On criticism of the proposed State budget: “Our budget is under population times inflation. It’s a conservative budget. Let me put it this way- anyone who says this is not a conservative budget, how is it we ended up with a $40 billion surplus? How is it we ended up with a $24 billion surplus? Because we did not spend all the money, because we save money. How is it we have $28 billion in the rainy day fund? How did all those things happen if we haven’t been extremely conservative? So, if one person says, “I don’t like the budget”, maybe that one person just wants to make news. But it’s a conservative budget, and we’ve always had a conservative budget.”
ICYMI:
“Nothing Short of Fraud”: Senators Hear Testimony on Bill to Curtail Abusive Litigation Practices
Protecting Texas from Hostile Foreign Threats at the Center of House Hearing
