Buckley | Bell, Keith | Metcalf | Landgraf | Wilson
Relating to public school accountability and transparency, including the implementation of an instructionally supportive assessment program and the adoption and administration of assessment instruments in public schools, indicators of achievement, public school performance ratings, and interventions and sanctions under the public school accountability system, a grant program for school district local accountability plans, and actions challenging Texas Education Agency decisions related to public school accountability.
Leach | Hickland | Troxclair | Pierson | Metcalf
Relating to prohibitions on the manufacture and provision of abortion-inducing drugs, including the jurisdiction of and effect of certain judgments by courts within and outside this state with respect to the manufacture and provision of those drugs, and to protections from certain counteractions under the laws of other states and jurisdictions; authorizing qui tam actions.
VanDeaver
Relating to the regulation of certain products derived from hemp, including consumable hemp products and the hemp-derived cannabinoids contained in those products; requiring occupational licenses and registrations; imposing fees; creating criminal offenses; authorizing an administrative penalty.
Bonnen | Martinez | Louderback
Relating to making supplemental appropriations for disaster relief and giving direction and adjustment authority regarding those appropriations.
Hunter | Vasut | Pierson | Spiller | Guillen
Relating to the composition of the districts for the election of members of the United States House of Representatives from the State of Texas.
King | Meyer | Louderback | McQueeney | Martinez
Relating to the interoperability of emergency communication equipment and infrastructure in this state, including the creation and operation of the Texas Interoperability Council, a grant program administered by the council, and the purchase of certain public safety radio communication systems.
King | Meyer | Moody | Wilson | Darby
Relating to disaster preparedness, response, and recovery, including required training for justices of the peace and responding to mass fatality events; requiring a license; authorizing fees.
Darby | King | Meyer | DeAyala | McQueeney
Relating to youth camp emergency plans and preparedness; authorizing penalties.
Labor Dept deploys ‘strike team’ to California over $21B unemployment debt, fraud concerns
The Labor Department deployed a “strike team” to California to address federal findings of improper payments and alleged fraud within the state’s unemployment insurance (UI) program. California has been found to have a depleted UI trust fund, along with $21 billion in borrowed federal funds to keep the system running — which federal officials say has led state employers to pay higher UI taxes to repay the debt. In a statement, the department cited an 83-page California State Auditor report that determined the state’s UI system is high-risk, in part due to “inadequate fraud prevention and claimant service [in its employment development department (EDD)], as well as a high rate of overturned eligibility decisions in its Unemployment Insurance Program.” EXCLUSIVE: SENATE BILL TARGETS MINNESOTA-STYLE ‘RUNAWAY FRAUD’ TO FORCE SCAMMERS REPAY TAXPAYERS “Financial issues and potential fraud in California’s unemployment insurance program will be fully examined. The previous administration turned a blind eye toward failing Labor programs: This ends now,” Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said. “Immediately, we are engaging a specialized strike team to uncover any potential fraud or abuse and quickly moving to protect the American worker and taxpayers. I look forward to restoring the California UI program’s integrity and financial health.” Chavez-DeRemer added that the “strike team” will include Labor Department specialists from both its national and regional offices. The secretary also wrote a letter to the EDD, citing increasing improper payment rates, insufficient timeliness, data accuracy and quality concerns, and questions about participants’ eligibility and the use of taxpayer funds. California received about $290 billion in COVID relief, part of, part of which helped what the California Post described as “rapidly implementing expanded unemployment benefits.” FEDERAL PROSECUTOR CALLS NEWSOM ‘KING OF FRAUD’ AS TRUMP LAUNCHES CALIFORNIA CORRUPTION PROBE At least one California UI steward was convicted of using her position to file nearly $860,000 in fraudulent UI claims, while some civilians were convicted of creating nonexistent businesses to claim UI. Just prior to the strike team’s deployment, DOL Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito said he found nearly $1 billion in taxpayer funds “at risk” nationwide due to COVID-related UI fraud. D’Esposito, a former NYPD officer and ex-congressman from Long Island, said in a statement that an analysis of 6.5 million prepaid debit cards used for COVID UI benefits still had $720 million loaded on them. WALZ’S MINNESOTA MESS COULD SPARK THE TOUGHEST FRAUD REFORMS IN DECADES “My office has warned that, absent swift action, U.S. taxpayers risk losing nearly a billion dollars in fraudulently obtained benefits,” D’Esposito said in a statement. “This is taxpayer money — and it demands immediate attention.” D’Esposito said fraud is not a victimless crime and that every misspent dollar is one that an actual needy family could use. “When we root out fraud, we protect taxpayers and lower the real cost of living,” he said. Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom and the state Senate’s top Republican for comment.
Trump approves DC emergency declaration over Potomac sewage spill, FEMA mobilizes
President Donald Trump on Saturday approved a disaster declaration for Washington, D.C., over the Potomac River sewage disaster. The declaration will allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to step in and provide assistance after a sewer line collapsed in January and dumped millions of gallons of raw filth into the water outlining the nation’s capital. “The President’s action authorizes FEMA to coordinate all disaster relief efforts to alleviate the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population and to provide appropriate assistance to save lives, to protect property, public health and safety and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe,” FEMA said in a statement. FEMA’s assistance will cover the nation’s capital and the areas in Maryland and Virginia where the District of Columbia has responsibilities, the agency said. TRUMP WORRIES POTOMAC ‘WILL STILL STINK’ DURING AMERICA250 CELEBRATION AFTER MASSIVE SEWAGE SPILL A sewage pipe interceptor ruptured on Jan. 19, releasing upward of 240 million gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac River. Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a disaster emergency over the Potomac sewage spill on Wednesday and requested federal assistance with the cleanup. Trump is worried the Potomac River will still stink when America250 celebrations kick off this summer, according to the White House. The president has directed his ire toward Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, and other local leaders in Virginia and Washington, D.C., on the issue, claiming alleged incompetence led to the disaster. Moore and his office, however, have pushed back on Trump’s assertions, claiming the federal government has oversight over the sewer utility. “This is a Washington, D.C., pipe on federal land,” Moore told Fox News Digital this week. “Maryland has nothing to do with this. In fact, the only thing Maryland did was when we saw a neighbor who was in need. That’s why I ordered people, our people to go support them, and that’s what we’ve been doing the past month.” TRUMP SLAMS MARYLAND GOVERNOR, LAUNCHES FEDERAL EFFORT TO PROTECT POTOMAC AFTER HISTORIC SEWAGE SPILL “We’ve been doing essentially the federal government’s job, because it’s the federal government’s job to be able to protect the Potomac interconnector, because that’s federal land,” Moore said, adding, “For the president now to come and attack me on this, I find that to be… absurd.” The sewage pipes are managed by D.C. Water, an independent utility based in the District of Columbia, which has made emergency repairs, but says it will take four to six weeks to completely fix what’s known as a broken interceptor. This is a developing news story; check back for updates. Fox Business’ Edward Lawrence and Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.