Page 2747 – Texas Weekly Online

Kentucky Democrat garners bipartisan support for affordable diaper bill

For weary parents rolling up their sleeves for around-the-clock diaper duty, a bill with bipartisan support in Kentucky would deliver tax relief when purchasing a necessity that adds up to a hefty expense. The measure would exempt diapers from the state’s 6% sales tax. Senators from both parties have signed on as cosponsors, and the proposal received a hearty endorsement from the operator of a Kentucky diaper bank who says it goes to the heart of a harsh reality for some struggling families — cutting back on food and other expenses to keep their infants in fresh diapers or reusing disposable diapers. “When people hear about this bill, it’s something they all understand,” Democratic Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong, the bill’s lead sponsor, said in an interview Friday. “Anyone who has young children or young grandchildren understands that diapers are really expensive. They understand that several hundred dollars a month for a family with two kids in diapers is a huge expense and families need relief.” KENTUCKY REPUBLICAN REINTRODUCES BILL TO END ODD-YEAR ELECTIONS With two young children of her own, Chambers Armstrong can relate to the frequent runs to the store to buy diapers. By waiving Kentucky’s sales tax for diaper purchases, families with infants or toddlers could save hundred of dollars each year, she said. The proposed exemption also would apply to adult diapers. “It adds up over time,” Chambers Armstrong said of the savings. “It sounds small — 6% — but every penny counts when you’re counting pennies.” The struggle to afford diapers is a growing problem, according to the National Diaper Bank Network. When families can’t afford a constant supply of clean diapers, their babies are more vulnerable to painful rashes and urinary tract infections and require more doctor visits, the group said. Parents risk missing work or school if they can’t afford the diapers required to leave their baby in child care, it said. As of last summer, 26 states were charging sales tax on diapers, the organization said. The diaper tax can be as low as 4% or as high as 7%, it said. Children require at least 50 diaper changes per week, it said. Deanna Hornback, who runs a Louisville-area diaper bank, said she has heard of families rinsing out or taping disposable diapers to keep them in use. She called it a “silent need” that is becoming more prevalent, and she said that passing the tax exemption would deliver badly needed relief for families. “You’ll not only be reaching those … impoverished families, you will actually reach those who fall between the cracks, who struggle or who have too much pride to ask for the help,” she said in a phone interview Thursday. “So this bill is going to help everybody.” In a legislative chamber dominated by Republicans, Chambers Armstrong has broken through as a Democrat with an idea that is resonating with her Republican colleagues. Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer is among the Republicans adding their names to the bill as cosponsors. “I think it’s a really good bill,” Thayer said Friday. “We’re Republicans. We’re for cutting taxes. Diapers are a required staple of life.” While the bill has drawn considerable attention, the actual pathway for enacting a sales tax exemption for diaper purchases isn’t yet clear. Revenue bills have to start in the House, so the language in Chambers Armstrong’s proposal could end up being attached to a House measure, Thayer said. “However it gets done is a win,” Chambers Armstrong said. Applying the exemption to diaper purchases would cost the Bluegrass State an estimated $10 million a year in revenue — a minuscule amount compared with the cost of existing sales tax exemptions for food and medicine and at a time when Kentucky has massive budget reserves from surging tax collections. Chambers Armstrong sees the projected fiscal impact for her bill as too high, saying Kentuckians will likely spend savings from the diaper exemption on other family necessities. Whatever the cost to state coffers, the diaper tax exemption would help ease the pinch on family budgets, she said. “Whenever you have young children, diapers — purchasing them, affording them — is one of the things that you think about every single day,” she said. “And I’m lucky that we had the resources to be able to afford the diapers we needed. But there were so many expenses when we first had our two children, you just think about all the families that struggle and what you can do to help them.”

No Labels reaches out to Chris Christie regarding a potential third party, bipartisan presidential ticket

The centrist group No Labels is trying to reach out and speak with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — who this week ended his bid for the Republican presidential nomination — about a possible role in a potential third-party, bipartisan presidential ticket. Sources in Christie’s political orbit confirmed to Fox News there has been outreach by No Labels but that the organization has not had any actual conversations with the former governor since he suspended his presidential campaign on Wednesday. Christie campaign manager Maria Comella on Thursday said that “neither the governor nor anyone on the campaign has had conversations with No Labels.” Former Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, the party’s 2000 vice presidential nominee and a No Labels founding co-chair, said in a radio interview after Christie ended his White House bid that Christie “could be a very strong candidate” on the group’s proposed unity ticket.” CHRISTIE ARGUES HALEY WILL GET ‘SMOKED’ IN HOT MIC MOMENT AS HE DROPS OUT OF THE 2024 RACE Christie, a longtime ally turned vocal GOP critic of former President Donald Trump, in June launched a second bid for the Republican nomination. Asked in an interview in July if he’d consider joining a possible No Labels ticket, Christie shot down the idea, saying, “I think it’s a fool’s errand.” “I’m not in this for showtime. I’m not in this for making a point. I’m in this to get elected President of the United States, and there are only two people who will get elected President of the United States: the Republican nominee for president and the Democratic nominee for president,” Christie said at the time in an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week.” Lieberman, in a Sirius XM interview with Michael Smerconish, said Thursday that when Christie made his comments last summer “he basically said it was not an effort that had any chance of succeeding, but maybe the world will look different to him now.” “I’d like to reach out to him and see if he, Gov. Christie, is at all interested in being on a bipartisan No Labels Unity ticket this year. He could be a very strong candidate,” Lieberman added. Lieberman called Christie “refreshingly independent” and said he “might well be” No Labels “material,” adding that “that’s the kind of candidate No Labels is looking for.” No Labels has said it will pull the trigger on whether to launch a presidential ticket in March, following Super Tuesday, when a slew of states hold nominating contests. Trump is the commanding front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, and plenty of political pundits argue that any third-party ticket fielded by No Labels would only benefit Trump in a likely rematch this November with President Biden. There’s also been a chorus of calls from Democrats warning that a No Labels ticket would pave a path to victory for Trump in next year’s election. No Labels takes issue with that criticism, and has repeatedly pushed back on such notions. “That’s not our goal here,” Lieberman told Fox News Digital last year. “We’re not about electing either President Trump or President Biden.” Sources in Christie’s political orbit sounded skeptical when asked about the former governor joining any No Labels ticket. And they pointed to Christie’s comments on Wednesday as he dropped out of the race. “I want to promise you this — I am going to make sure that in no way do I enable Donald Trump to ever be President of the United States again. And that’s more important than my own personal ambitions,” Christie emphasized as he suspended his campaign. “Even though I am suspending this campaign, I am not going away, and my voice is not going away,” he added. Referring to Trump, Christie stressed, “I am not going to be a part of a generation who willingly stands by and says, ‘It’s too hard. He’s too loud, he’s too strong.’” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

DOJ renews SCOTUS push to act after Texas seizes border areas, blocks Border Patrol from entering

The Department of Justice has renewed its push for the Supreme Court to act on an ongoing legal dispute between Texas and the federal government after a dramatic move in which Texas seized control of a park near the border and blocked Border Patrol from entering. “Texas’s new actions since the government’s filing demonstrate an escalation of the State’s measures to block Border Patrol’s ability to patrol or even to surveil the border and be in a position to respond to emergencies,” the DOJ told the high court in an overnight supplemental filing on Friday. The Texas National Guard seized Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas and set up razor wire and fences to block off the area. Eagle Pass has been one of the hottest spots of migrant crossings in the three-year border crisis and Shelby Park is a key staging area for processing during the enormous migrant surges the state has seen. TEXAS SEIZES CONTROL OF PARK, BLOCKS BORDER PATROL FROM ENTERING, AS PART OF ANTI-ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION EFFORTS In a statement, the Texas Military Dept. said it has maintained a presence in the park since 2021, including with security points and temporary barriers. “The current posture is to prepare for future illegal immigrant surges and to restrict access to organizations that perpetuate illegal immigrant crossings in the park and greater Eagle Pass area,” it said. Senior Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sources later confirmed that Border Patrol is being blocked at two areas of operation in Eagle Pass and said that agents pulled resources to avoid a confrontation. In the overnight filing, the DOJ says Border Patrol learned of the new barriers late on Wednesday and says that the barriers stop Border Patrol from reaching the Rio Grande Reiver in certain areas. “It also includes the staging area that Border Patrol has used to evaluate and begin inspecting migrants that it has apprehended along this stretch of the border,” the administration said. The government says that Border Patrol had requested access to use a boat ramp and to access the staging area but were refused access. The move ramps up an ongoing dispute between Texas and the administration over Texas’ setting up of razor wire along the southern border to stop illegal crossings. The Biden administration was recently blocked by an appeals court from cutting or damaging the wire, and asked the Supreme Court to intervene as a result. The administration said the wire was preventing agents from apprehending migrants and accessing parts of the border. The latest filing comes as part of the case, with the DOJ pointing to claims Texas had previously made that agents could access the border via boat or road without cutting the wire, and said that now the one safe and operationally practical boat ramp was blocked. “Because Border Patrol can no longer access or view this stretch of the border, Texas has effectively prevented Border Patrol from monitoring the border to determine whether a migrant requires the emergency aid that the court of appeals expressly excepted from the injunction,” it argues. BIDEN LAWSUIT OVER TEXAS IMMIGRATION LAW LATEST ATTEMPT TO STIFLE STATE’S MOVES TO STOP ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION The filing argues that the new actions have “changed the situation on the ground from the account in prior filings in this Court, including Texas’s opposition.” Those developments reinforce the need for this Court to vacate the court of appeals’ injunction, and to do so as soon as possible,” the DOJ says. “This Court should vacate the injunction pending appeal in order to restore Border Patrol’s access to the border it is charged with patrolling and the migrants it is responsible for apprehending, inspecting, and processing.” It’s one of several ongoing disputes between the Biden administration and Texas over the southern border. The government has sued Texas over its establishment of buoys along the Rio Grande and a recent anti-illegal immigration law that allows for state and local police to arrest illegal immigrants. Texas has stood by its policies, saying that it is acting where the Biden administration has failed to secure the border. BIDEN DOJ SEEKS SUPREME COURT INTERVENTION OVER TEXAS RAZOR WIRE AT SOUTHERN BORDER “Texas is holding the line at our southern border with miles of additional razor wire and anti-climb barriers to deter and repel the record-high levels of illegal immigration invited by President Biden’s reckless open border policies. Instead of enforcing federal immigration laws, the Biden Administration allows unfettered access for Mexican cartels to smuggle people into our country,” Abbott spokesperson Renae Eze said on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Border Patrol Union backed Abbott, saying he is enhancing operations, not harming them. “His seizing control of Shelby Park allows our agents to deploy to troubled spots that experience high numbers of gotaways. Governor Abbott’s actions should be seen as a force multiplier,” National Border Patrol Council Brandon Judd said in a statement.

Fox News Politics: Texas seizes control

Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. Subscribe now to get Fox News Politics newsletter in your inbox. What’s Happening? – Biden campaign accused of pressuring liberal media – GOP demands details on Defense secretary hospitalization – Hunter Biden lawyers to ‘comply’ with a new subpoena The Texas National Guard has seized control of a park at the U.S. southern border and is now blocking Border Patrol from entering the area – part of an effort to stop the surge of illegal immigration into Texas and a move likely to significantly increase tensions between Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the federal government. The state government has taken control of Shelby Park in the city of Eagle Pass, Texas, which has been at the center of the migrant crisis that has engulfed the U.S. border. Authorities have now set up razor wire and fences to block off the area. In a statement, the Texas Military Dept. said it has maintained a presence in the park since 2021, including with security points and temporary barriers. “The current posture is to prepare for future illegal immigrant surges and to restrict access to organizations that perpetuate illegal immigrant crossings in the park and greater Eagle Pass area,” it said. HUNTER GATHERER: Hunter Biden lawyers say they will ‘comply for a hearing or deposition’ if House panels issue new subpoena …Read more FREE ASSEMBLY: Demonstrators protest Biden bombing Yemen outside White House …Read more ‘ABSURD AND UNACCEPTABLE’: Biden’s EPA lost track of billions of dollars in taxpayer funds: inspector general …Read more ‘THAT AGED WELL’: Conservatives blast Biden for 2020 tweet criticizing Trump following Yemen air strike …Read more ‘DON’T REALLY GIVE A S–T’: David Axelrod continues to voice concerns about Biden, dismisses critics …Read more ‘CLEAR DOUBLE STANDARD’: House Republicans blasts Biden admin for allowing CBS to film at border facility but not Congress …Read more ‘ENOUGH IS ENOUGH’: Lawmaker’s bill mandates automatic death penalty for child sex crimes following Epstein files release …Read more ‘GOOD CONVERSATION’: Speaker Johnson meets with OpenAI CEO, says Congress ‘needs to play’ role in artificial intelligence …Read more ‘GRAVE CONCERN’: Lloyd Austin hospitalization: House Republicans demand more details as pressure builds on Pentagon …Read more CAMPAIGN CENSORSHIP?: Biden campaign accused of pressuring liberal media not to ‘platform’ primary challenger Dean Phillips …Read more ‘NEVER NIKKI’: Rand Paul has come out against Nikki Haley in the 2024 presidential race …Read more ‘NUMBNUTS’: DeSantis shuts down ‘numbnuts’ climate protesters at Iowa event, security tackles to ground …Read more AVOIDING EXPECTATIONS: Haley knocks media over expectations but predicts ‘big showing’ in Iowa caucuses …Read more ‘LAUGHINGSTOCK’: CA sheriff blasts Newsom’s ‘anti-2A’, ‘pro-criminal agenda’ after court blocks latest gun control law …Read more DIRTY BUSINESS: Joe Manchin ‘surrounded’ by far-left activists who scored White House meeting …Read more Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

Case challenging Trump ballot access dies at Oregon Supreme Court

The Oregon Supreme Court will not hear the case challenging former President Donald Trump’s eligibility to appear on the state’s ballot in this year’s presidential election. The court turned down the opportunity to hear the case, citing a lack of authority to handle the issue in the primary stage. “Today, the Oregon Supreme Court declined to hear, for now, a challenge by five Oregon voters (relators) seeking to preclude Donald J. Trump from appearing on the Oregon 2024 Republican primary and general election ballots,” a media release from the court announced Friday. TRUMP BACKED BY 27 STATES IN SUPREME COURT FIGHT, WHO WARN OF 2024 ‘CHAOS’ IF HE’S REMOVED FROM BALLOT Democrats in a handful of states across the U.S. are in the midst of legal battles to remove Trump’s name from state ballots, saying Trump’s actions on January 6, 2021, violated a clause in the 14th Amendment that prevents anyone who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the Constitution from holding political office. DEMS’ PLAN TO STRIP TRUMP FROM NY BALLOT HAS NUMBER OF FLAWS UNDER STATE LAW: ELECTION EXPERT The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on whether former President Trump will be on the Colorado Republican presidential primary ballot. The justices said they will hear the case on an expedited basis, with arguments on February 8. “The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted. The case is set for oral argument on Thursday, February 8, 2024,” the SCOTUS decision said. “Petitioner’s brief on the merits, and any amicus curiae briefs in support or in support of neither party, are to be filed on or before Thursday, January 18, 2024.” The SCOTUS justices issued an administrative stay that ordered the Colorado Secretary of State to put the former president’s name on the GOP primary ballot, at least until the case is decided. The state supreme court left the door open to future petitions following an expected decision from the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the removal of candidates from the ballot under the 14th Amendment clause. The Oregon court’s media release said: “Because a decision by the United States Supreme Court regarding the Fourteenth Amendment issue may resolve one or more contentions that relators make in the Oregon proceeding, the Oregon Supreme Court denied their petition for mandamus, by order, but without prejudice to their ability to file a new petition seeking resolution of any issue that may remain following a decision by the United States Supreme Court.” Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.

West Virginia Senate passes bill to allow armed security personnel in schools

County education boards in West Virginia could contract with military veterans and retired law enforcement officers to provide armed security at K-12 public schools under a bill passed Friday by the Republican-controlled state Senate. Republican Sen. Eric Tarr of Putnam County said the bill was brought to him by retired military officers concerned about school shootings happening across the country. Tarr, who chairs Senate Finance, said retired officers told him that “we need people in our schools who are trained to run at a gun at an instant when it’s necessary to protect our children.” WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATORS LOOK AHEAD TO FENTANYL CRACKDOWN AND EDUCATION FUNDING The bill passed unanimously with support from the 34-member body’s three Democrats. Two Republicans were absent and didn’t vote. The legislation will now be considered by the House of Delegates. The West Virginia Senate passed a similar bill last year, but it failed to advance in the House. A House committee passed a different bill last year that would allow K-12 teachers, administrators and support personnel with concealed carry permits to carry guns in schools, but it wasn’t taken up again. This year’s Senate bill would allow county boards of education to contract with an honorably discharged veteran, former state trooper, former deputy sheriff or former federal law enforcement officer. The contractor would not be a school resource officer or considered law enforcement, nor would they have arrest power. The contractor would need to have a concealed carry permit, pass a preemployment drug screening and have undergone physical, vision and psychiatric examinations. The bill also requires potential contractors to undergo training with the West Virginia State Police and complete a course on firearms and/or lethal use of force. School boards wouldn’t be permitted to hire a contractor convicted of domestic violence, driving under the influence or child abuse, among other criminal offenses. Under the bill, any county board of education could contract with as many veterans or retired officers as it deems necessary. Republican Sen. Laura Wakim Chapman of Ohio County called the bill a crucial step toward making state public schools safer. “Our teachers, our staff and our children deserve to go to school every day knowing that they will come home at night,” she said.

Far-left green activists ‘surround’ Joe Manchin event in New Hampshire just weeks after White House invite

A far-left climate protest organization that was recently granted a private White House meeting said Friday that it had surrounded Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., in New Hampshire in an effort to confront him over energy and climate policy. Climate Defiance — a Washington, D.C.-based group known for its high-profile disruptive protests targeting politicians — said its members had cornered Manchin, forcing him to hide in an “old” building in Goffstown, New Hampshire. The group’s actions came shortly after the Democratic senator addressed the New Hampshire Institute of Politics’ “Politics & Eggs” forum which is often attended by presidential candidates. “We are *swarming* Joe Manchin’s presidential forum in New Hampshire,” Climate Defiance said in an X post Friday morning. “This man is a murderer. The blood of thousands is encrusted on his hands. As we write he cowers behind lines of armed cops, afraid and humiliated.” “As we write, Joe Manchin is hiding from us in an old, red brick building in Goffstown, New Hampshire,” the group added an hour later. “We have surrounded the premises. We have staked out all the exits. We will hold this man to account. He cannot hide from us forever.” HERE ARE THE TOP FIVE MOST DISRUPTIVE CLIMATE PROTESTS OF 2023 It is unclear whether Manchin remains surrounded by the activists and a spokesperson for Manchin didn’t respond to a request for comment. Over the past week, Climate Defiance has publicly called for volunteers to join its protest to “shut down” Manchin’s event in New Hampshire. The group said it sought to disrupt the event over Manchin’s longstanding support for fossil fuels, pointing to his actions pushing the Mountain Valley Pipeline natural gas project and personally owning a coal company. LEFT-WING CLIMATE GROUP IS QUIETLY PREPARING JUDGES FOR GLOBAL WARMING CASES “There is no community this man will not destroy to enrich himself. No person he will not condemn to a fiery death to help his fossil fuel cronies,” the group said in a posting earlier this month. “He is committing horrific crimes every single day, and we will resist him with all we’ve got. We will do so on January 12th, in New Hampshire. We ask you to join us there.” The announcement that Climate Defiance would seek to protest Manchin’s event Friday in New Hampshire came shortly after the group was granted a White House meeting. On Dec. 15, the group met privately with senior White House adviser John Podesta. Following the meeting, the group publicized a letter it handed Podesta. “Thank you for taking the time to meet with us today,” Climate Defiance wrote to Podesta. “We appreciate your willingness to heed our deeply-held concerns. Echoing the voices of millions of Americans, we write to you in the eleventh hour of the greatest threat that humanity has ever faced: planetary and societal collapse due to the continued burning of fossil fuels.” “We urge you to wield your utmost authority to implement a swift end to any federal support for new fossil fuel infrastructure. Both the urgency of this action and the severe consequences of further delay cannot be overstated,” it continued. “Climate Defiance recognizes your commitment to climate action and commends you on your vital work developing and implementing the Inflation Reduction Act.” Meanwhile, last year, the group disrupted events where Podesta, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo were speaking.

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