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Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate MJ Hegar raised $13.5 million in the third quarter.
By Patrick Svitek
MJ Hegar, the Democratic challenger to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, announced Wednesday that she raised over $13.5 million in the third quarter, a massive improvement over her previous hauls.
<p>The $13.5 million is nearly eight times more than what she raised during her previous best quarter. That was $1.7 million in the second quarter of this year.</p><p>The fundraising bonanza left Hegar with over $8 million cash on hand at the end of this month, her campaign said. Cornyn, who has had a decisive financial advantage from the start, had $14.5 million in the bank at the end of June.</p><p>Still, Hegar's latest fundraising puts her into financial competition with Cornyn in a way she never was before. For over a year, as she fought for her party's nomination to challenge Cornyn, Hegar's cash on hand remained a small fraction of his.</p><p>The third quarter saw Hegar win the nomination in a July 14 primary runoff against state Sen. <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/directory/royce-west/" target="_blank">Royce West</a> of Dallas. She raised over $1 million in the week after the runoff victory, according to her campaign.</p><p>Cornyn has not released any fundraising numbers for the third quarter, which ends Wednesday. They face an Oct. 15 deadline to disclose their full third-quarter finances to the Federal Election Commission.</p><p>While Cornyn has not shared his third-quarter haul yet, Hegar's $13.5 million easily eclipses his <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/13/john-cornyn-senate-race-texas/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">previous best quarter</a> this election cycle, which was $3.5 million in the second quarter of this year.</p><p>Hegar's third-quarter fundraising also tops the $12 million that U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz raised during the same period in 2018 during his blockbuster race against Democrat Beto O'Rourke. O'Rourke raked in a record-breaking $38.1 million that quarter.</p><p>Hegar has already been putting the new money to use with a statewide TV ad blitz. Her campaign noted she is airing ads on broadcast in nine of the state's top markets: Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, El Paso, Harlingen, Waco, Tyler and Corpus Christi.</p><p><br/></p><p><strong>More on the election:</strong></p>
<h2><a href="https://austonia.com/austin-propositions" target="_self">Voting guide: local mobility propositions on the November ballot</a></h2>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzI4ODE4MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMjc5NzM5M30.4jNJp9rcUfuP6eJkTlCeBwO04E1wMrFsbD2LvCrJqsA/img.jpg?width=980" id="ec6e4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ffffd7190df8e4552a73ef4bb93c346e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Voting guide: local mobility propositions on the November ballot
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Gov. Greg Abbott calls for new crimes, mandatory jail time for certain offenses related to protests
24 September
Gov. Greg Abbott help a press conference Sept. 24 to announce new legislative proposals.
By Jolie McCullough
At a campaign event in Dallas on Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott issued a string of new legislative proposals to raise penalties and create new crimes for offenses committed at protests.
<p>Abbott isn't on the Nov. 3 ballot, but the event was the Republican governor's <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/09/10/greg-abbott-austin-police-budget-cuts/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">latest move in a national political battle</a> during a tumultuous election that has pitted police officers and fears of rising crime against calls for an end to <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/06/13/defunding-police-texas-organizers/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">police brutality and systemic racism</a>. Abbott's proposals, offered at a press conference at the Dallas Police Association headquarters, in part mirror a controversial set of measures Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed earlier this week.</p><p>"Today, we are announcing more legislative proposals to do even more to protect our law enforcement officers as well as do more to keep our community safe," said Abbott, who was flanked by police union officials, other Texas leaders and Republican politicians hoping to take Texas House seats from Dallas County Democrats in November.</p><p>The legislation, if passed by lawmakers in 2021, would create felony-level offenses for causing injury or destroying property during what is deemed to be a "riot." Blocking hospital entrances and using lasers to target police would also be felony offenses, Abbott said. Striking an officer with something like a water bottle would lead to a mandatory minimum of six months in jail.</p><p>Currently, the crime of "participating in a riot" is a misdemeanor offense in Texas with a maximum of six months in jail, and is labeled as a gathering of seven or more people that in part, creates a danger to a person or property. Many protesters in Texas have been arrested on suspicion of such offenses since protests erupted in May after the death of George Floyd. Others have been charged with felony-level crimes like assault on a police officer, including an 18-year-old who faces up to 20 years in prison for allegedly throwing a water bottle at an officer.</p><p>During a summer of national unrest after Floyd's death, protests in Texas sometimes turned unruly, leaving broken windows and dents in police vehicles, graffiti on government property and police officers with cuts and bruises. Most protests in Texas have been peaceful and have not left massive amounts of property damage — like burned buildings or looted storefronts — in their wake. Police have sprayed tear gas and pepper spray into crowds and fired bean bags out of shotguns at nonviolent demonstrators, sometimes seriously injuring them.</p><p>In recent months, the Austin City Council issued a vote of no confidence in police leadership to make changes to end police violence against people of color and, later, cut the department's budget. In Dallas, Police Chief U. Reneé Hall <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/09/08/dallas-police-chief-renee-hall-resigns/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">announced she would resign</a> at the end of the year after her department's use of force during protests was heavily criticized.</p><p>Abbott's new proposal would also pursue organizers of unruly protests. A new felony offense would be created for those who "aid and abet riots with funds and organization assistance," he said, and give the Texas Attorney General power to pursue civil penalties against such organizations as well.</p><p>And it would also keep anyone arrested on suspicion of riot offenses in jail until they could see a court officer.</p><p>"We're tired of seeing all these rioters do their rioting, they get arrested, they go in, and 30 minutes later, they're back on the street," Abbott said.</p><p>In Florida, DeSantis also announced Monday a proposal to delay releasing people who could make bail.</p><p>Democrats in Florida slammed DeSantis' proposal as unconstitutional and fear mongering, according to the Tampa Bay Times. One Florida lawmaker said the governor had "declared war on our civil rights."</p><p>In Texas, the proposals already had fierce opposition from organizers. David Villalobos, with the Texas Organizing Project in Dallas, said he is concerned about how police are able to determine when something is a riot and who they will target, and how it will affect a community that already doesn't trust the police.</p><p>"We wouldn't want [police] to have this wide discretion to deem which protesters are taking part in disorderly conduct or unlawful protests," he said Thursday. "This seems like a step that would really try to stifle the voice of the people, the people's right to march and peacefully assemble."</p><p>In Austin, where City Council members last month cut the police budget amid an outcry to defund policing and reinvest in other social programs to reduce crime, Austin Justice Coalition Founder Chas Moore said it seemed "democracy is hanging on by a thread."</p><p>"I don't think the governor is moving in the right direction if he's trying to penalize people for protesting or speaking out against the things people have grievances about," he said. "It's not going to stop people from protesting, but I do think we have a more emboldened police department and police forces."</p><p><em>Juan Pablo Garnham contributed to this story.</em></p><p><em><a href="https://www.texastribune.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Texas Tribune</a> is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. </em></p><p><em><br/></em></p><p><strong>More on Abbott:</strong></p>
<h2><a href="https://austonia.com/abbott-legislature-police-austin" target="_self">Abbott threatens legislative action after Austin cuts police budget</a></h2>
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Texas begins letting people register to vote online when they’re updating their driver’s licenses
24 September
Jordan Vonderhaar/The Texas Tribune
Forty-one states have passed laws allowing online voter registration; Texas is not one of them.
By Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff
When Jarrod Stringer updated his driver's license address in 2014, the Texas Department of Public Safety website asked if he wanted to register to vote. He clicked yes and thought he was registered. That fall, when he went to vote in San Antonio, he was denied. According to the system, he had never registered. It was past the registration deadline, so he couldn't vote.
<p>That kicked off a six-year legal battle that included two lawsuits for the right for Texans to register to vote online while updating their licenses.</p><p>"It's traumatic when you can't vote," Stringer said. "It's implicitly saying, 'You don't have a voice. You can't participate in change.'"</p><p>On Wednesday, Stringer won that "mind-boggling" fight with the state of Texas two weeks before the deadline to register to vote in 2020. Acting on a federal judge's orders, the state updated its online systems to allow people to add their names to the voter rolls when they update their licenses.</p><p>While it's a limited step — the online option is still only available to people updating their licenses — the change marks the first time Texans have been able to register to vote online, which advocates say could significantly increase turnout both this year and for future elections.</p><p>Mimi Marziani, the president of the Texas Civil Rights Project, which brought forward the lawsuits, said the change specifically helps marginalized Texans, who most often move.</p><p>"This is absolutely a victory for voting rights for all Texans," Marziani said. "It's a particular victory for younger Texans, poorer Texans and Texans of color."</p><p>The National Voter Registration Act, known as the motor voter law, requires states to let residents complete their voter registration applications when they apply for or renew their driver's licenses. Marziani said she took up the case because Stringer had been denied that right.</p><p>Previously, Texans like Stringer who tried to register while using the state's online license portal were directed to a blank registration form they had to fill out, print and send to their county registrar. The state was forced to change that system after U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/08/28/texas-voter-registration-laws/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ruled last month</a> that DPS is "legally obligated" to allow voters to simultaneously register to vote with every license renewal or change-of-address application. Garcia had ordered the state to set up a "fully operable" online system by Wednesday.</p><p>"The Secretary of State and Texas Department of Public Safety are in compliance with the court's order," said Kayleigh Date, a spokesperson for the Office of the Attorney General, in a statement.</p><p>According to Marziani, 1.9 million Texans use the Department of Public Safety's online portal to update their driving information each year, and 96% of eligible Texans have their driver's licenses. Texas drivers can renew their licenses online if they renewed them in person the previous time, they are older than 18 but younger than 79, and their licenses expire within two years or have been expired for less than two years, among other restrictions. Texas has more than 16.6 million registered voters.</p><p>The coronavirus has brought widespread concern about how people can vote safely in Texas this November, especially as the state's elected leaders have resisted the idea of broadening who is eligible to vote by mail. Campaigns and advocates from both parties have found that registering new voters has been a challenge without online voting. <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/electronic-or-online-voter-registration.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Forty-one states</a> have passed legislation to allow residents to register to vote online; Texas is not one of them.</p><p>Marziani said Wednesday's move shows the state has the infrastructure in place to expand online voting beyond DPS and renewing driver's licenses.</p><p>"The system they use is the exact same system that they would implement for a broader online voter registration," Marziani said. "This is a flashing green light for the Legislature to finally bring Texas in line with states across the country and pass online voter registration."</p><p>Date did not answer questions about whether this would be possible or whether the state expected to expand online voter registration.</p><p>While some state leaders have staunchly opposed any form of online registration, Garcia's ruling last month said online registration would actually bolster security and election integrity.</p><p>"Uncontested expert testimony shows that a compliant DPS system would very likely lead to great efficiency, less human error, a massive saving in costs, and increased voter registration," Garcia wrote.</p><p>For Stringer, who moved again in August and waited to update his license until Wednesday, the action by the state was a relief.</p><p>"The representation of the people in the state of Texas is more fair today than it was two weeks ago," he said. "Part of what it means to be a citizen is to vote without duress. It's a huge deal."</p><p><em><a href="https://www.texastribune.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Texas Tribune</a> is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.</em> </p><p><em><br/></em></p><p><strong>More on the election: </strong></p>
<h2><a href="https://austonia.com/city/5-lessons-learned-election" target="_self">Pandemic voting: 5 things Austin learned from the July election that will matter in November</a></h2>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ4MTU4OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNDA4MTQ2OH0.4s40aKJ_LAs5qU7Fs07Rvln0kH5lNg8ltaAkP5S1tYw/img.jpg?width=980" id="261f3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="908b01e6dd7d428791b8de9a5a6a6ef1" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Pandemic voting: 5 things Austin learned from the July election that will matter in November
<h2></h2>
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The race for U.S. Senate in Texas is competitive again. But this year it has a lower profile.
23 September
(Miguel Gutierrez/The Texas Tribune)
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is seeking his fourth term in office.
By Patrick Svitek
Even before a pandemic struck, protests over racial justice took to the streets and a vacancy opened on the U.S. Supreme Court, this year's U.S. Senate race was poised to be different from the last one in Texas.
<p><a href="https://www.texastribune.org/directory/john-cornyn/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">John Cornyn</a> is not as polarizing as <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/directory/ted-cruz/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ted Cruz</a>, the thinking went, and MJ Hegar is no Beto O'Rourke.</p><p>Add in a wave of news and other high-profile 2020 contests, and Texas voters are getting a much lower-octane race, a far cry from Cruz's battle royale against O'Rourke and all its theatrics.</p><p>But that does not mean this year's race is lacking in contrast.</p><p>As he embarks on the final several weeks of his quest for a fourth term, Cornyn is pitching himself as a "steady hand on the wheel" who has the stature to guide Texas through a turbulent time. Hegar, meanwhile, is happily running to the contrary — as a disruptive change agent who can usher in a new era of federal representation for a changing Texas.</p><p>While Hegar's pitch is broadly similar to what O'Rourke's was, Cornyn is taking a notably different path than Cruz, a student of base-first politics who believed what he needed most in 2018 was maximum conservative turnout. Instead, Cornyn is running for reelection with more appeals to the political center, often inviting questions — most vocally from Hegar — about whether his rhetoric matches his record.</p><p>But in any case, it is a dynamic destined to shape the final several weeks of the top statewide race after the presidential contest.</p><p>"The thing I enjoy the most about my job is actually solving hard problems, and sometimes it takes years to actually pass legislation, but … we're kind of in a precarious time, not just in our state, because of the pandemic, but in the nation, and … so I think a steady hand on the wheel is even more important than usual," Cornyn said during an interview earlier this month from his campaign headquarters in downtown Austin.</p><p>Underscoring the mutually embraced contrast, Hegar shot back in an interview: "I don't know how much more Texas can survive John Cornyn's experience. He's got a steady hand on the wheel driving toward a cliff."</p><p>While Texas is changing — and November will be the state's most consequential election in decades — Hegar still has her work cut out for her. She had to weather a crowded March primary and then a postponed July runoff, each stage requiring seven-figure interventions by her national Democratic allies to ensure her success. And while her campaign has touted fundraising momentum since locking down the nomination, she is all but guaranteed to remain at a massive cash disadvantage with Cornyn through Election Day. He had more than $14 million in the bank at the end of June, while she had less than $1 million.</p><p>To the contrary, Hegar believes she can overcome those disadvantages, at least in part, because she is up against an incumbent who continues to register as relatively unknown, especially given his long career in public life. In a <a href="https://www.uttyler.edu/politicalscience/files/aug28-sept2-dmn-uttyler-2020-poll-codebook-01.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dallas Morning News/University of Texas at Tyler poll</a> conducted in late August, 27% of respondents said they either did not know enough about Cornyn to have an opinion or had no opinion. That same figure was 49% for Hegar.</p><p>Recent <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/senate/texas/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">statewide polls</a> suggest that Cornyn is the favorite. But Hegar maintains she is well within striking distance, with margins usually in the mid to low single digits.</p><p>Cornyn has previously acknowledged his name ID challenge, and he said in the interview that as someone who runs statewide every six years, he is "not top of mind" for voters, especially those who make up the influx of new residents. But he expressed confidence that his campaign's paid media program would be "very effective" in changing those numbers.</p><p>"I know that [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer was looking at those numbers and thinking, 'Hey, if we could just put enough money into Texas, we can define Cornyn before he can define himself, and this is an opportunity,'" Cornyn said. "But ... we're not gonna let them do that, so we're gonna talk about what we've done for my constituents, and I think it's a good story to tell."</p><p>Asked if she felt she was winning the sprint to define Cornyn, considering her huge financial deficit, Hegar retorted that Cornyn is "100% defining himself through his actions." As an example, she pointed to <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2020/07/31/youre-not-thinking-about-us-18-million-unemployed-texans-fret-about-losing-600-weekly-boost-from-congress/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Cornyn's comment</a> that Congress made a "mistake" in early coronavirus aid, which featured an extra $600 a week in unemployment benefits, by creating a situation where some Texans were making more on unemployment than when they previously worked.</p><p>While Hegar has hammered away at Cornyn — even in her 12-way primary, when she ran an unabashedly general election-focused campaign — he has largely ignored her and sought to make his reelection pitch on his own terms. That story, according to Cornyn, is one of a quiet workhorse who has chipped away on issues that do not always dominate headlines. Asked for three of his proudest legislative achievements, he cited legislation to combat human trafficking, Hurricane Harvey relief and the Fix NICS Act, a 2018 law that he authored to improve the FBI's background-check system after the Sutherland Springs church shooting.</p><p>Cornyn's first three TV ads have a set a similar tone, carrying the tagline: "Thoughtful. Leadership. For Texas." The commercials have been about the coronavirus relief package he voted for early on in the pandemic, his work to <a href="https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/content/news/cornyn-shepherds-debbie-smith-act-test-untested-rape-kits-through-senate#:~:text=Cornyn%20Shepherds%20Debbie%20Smith%20Act%20to%20Test%20Untested%20Rape%20Kits%20Through%20Senate,-In%3A%20All%20News&text=WASHINGTON%E2%80%93%20Today%20on%20the%20floor,Debbie%20Smith%20Act%20of%202019.&text=%E2%80%9CSince%202004%2C%20the%20Debbie%20Smith,eliminate%20the%20rape%20kit%20backlog.%E2%80%9D" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reduce the rape-kit backlog</a> in Texas and most recently, his support for protecting "Dreamers," young people brought to the country illegally as children.</p><p>By contrast, Hegar's first TV spot was all about her military heroism, evoking a gritty image consistent with her campaign-trail bravado billing herself as a "bad-ass" working Texas mom who flew helicopters for the Air Force.</p><p>More than any other race this fall in Texas, though, the U.S. Senate contest could be shaken up by the Friday death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, which promptly sparked a battle to fill the vacancy, potentially before Election Day. Like many Democrats, Hegar argued that the next president should get to make the nomination, while Cornyn has not said exactly how he thinks the process should be handled. However, he was among the Senate Republicans in 2016 who refused to give a hearing to then-President Barack Obama's high-court nominee, Merrick Garland, claiming it was too close to the election.</p><p>Cornyn <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?476000-1/senate-session" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">said Monday</a> the Senate should not rush the process this time around but that the Senate "will vote on that nominee sometime this year," either before or after the election.</p><p>Hegar has called on the Senate to wait until after the election to act and said that by indicating they won't, Cornyn and other Senate Republicans are "showing the American people once again that they lack the integrity to act in the best interests of our country."</p><p><strong>Health care</strong></p><p>Hegar's top issue is health care, and like virtually every Democratic challenger across the country, she has seized on her GOP opponent's involvement in his party's yearslong crusade to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and its popular protections for people with preexisting conditions. Like many Republicans in Congress, Cornyn has a long history of votes to chip away at Obamacare, and he was the Senate GOP's top vote-counter during its ultimately unsuccessful drive to repeal the law in 2017.</p><p>Cornyn said it is a lie to say he is "opposed to covering preexisting conditions" and that he has "co-sponsored legislation to do that" independent of Obamacare. Cornyn co-sponsored the 2019 PROTECT Act, which bans insurance companies from denying coverage to people due to preexisting conditions. However, experts <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/20/us/politics/pre-existing-conditions-trump-administration.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">have said</a> the PROTECT Act and similar Republican-backed bills do not go as far as Obamacare does in ensuring such protections.</p><p>Regardless of legislative efforts, the Trump administration is still in court pushing to dismantle Obamacare and its protections for people with preexisting conditions, arguing the law is unconstitutional. Asked if he wanted to see the lawsuit succeed, Cornyn did not say.</p><p>"I would like to see the Constitution enforced," he said. "To me, it's that simple, and that's been the problem all along."</p><p><strong>Immigration</strong></p><p>Immigration is also shaping the general election, with Cornyn leaning in to his support for a permanent legislative solution for Dreamers, young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children. Cornyn is airing a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04KidDZ_8GM&feature=youtu.be" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Spanish-language TV ad</a> that says he "strongly supports legalization of Dreamers."</p><p>Cornyn's record is more complicated than that, with Democrats and immigration reform advocates countering that he has had ample opportunities to vote to protect Dreamers over the years and did not do so. Perhaps most notably, Cornyn voted against the 2013 "Gang of Eight" immigration reform bill, which passed 68-32 with bipartisan support. Cornyn <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/gang-of-eight-immigration-john-cornyn-amendment-092693" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">had introduced an amendment</a> seeking to address border security concerns with the legislation, but multiple sides in the debate called the amendment a poison pill, and it <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/senate-cornyn-border-security-amendment-093112" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">failed</a>.</p><p>Asked where his record backs up his rhetoric on Dreamers, Cornyn said he has "voted for a pathway to citizenship for 1.7 million DACA-eligible young people" — referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program — but acknowledged it was part of a larger package that was ultimately unsuccessful. The Dreamer protections were included in the <a href="https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/content/news/cornyn-votes-path-citizenship-daca-recipients-resources-boost-border-security" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">2018 Secure and Succeed Act</a>, which mirrored President Donald Trump's preferences at the time and also included more border security spending and legal immigration limits.</p><p>In the interview, Cornyn lamented how unwieldy immigration reform efforts have become in the past, and he said his "view on DACA specifically has evolved."</p><p>"I don't think it's fair to those young people to hold them hostage to a larger deal," Cornyn said. "I think we ought to do that on a standalone basis, and I'm for giving them a permanent status."</p><p><strong>Coronavirus</strong></p><h2></h2><p>Perhaps the most timely issue framing the final weeks of the race is the coronavirus pandemic.</p><p>Recognizing the political potency of the issue, Cornyn made his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjSY90t0zo0&feature=youtu.be" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first general-election TV ad</a> about school reopenings, featuring a mother saying he "gets it" when it comes to safely returning children to school this fall. The mom then alludes to Cornyn's support for the CARES Act, the coronavirus relief package that the Senate passed unanimously in March. The legislation offered <a href="https://edsource.org/2020/31-billion-in-federal-coronavirus-relief-coming-soon-to-schools-college-students-and-universities/627145" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">$31 billion</a> in emergency relief for K-12 and higher education, including $2.6 billion for Texas.</p><p>Hegar counters that Cornyn's pandemic messaging is undermined by things like his <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnCornyn/status/1238878952644624390?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mid-March tweet</a> urging people not to panic about the pandemic, accompanied by a photo of a Corona beer. There was also his inaccurate July <a href="https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/cornyn-on-covid-19-we-still-dont-know-whether-children-can-get-it-and-transmit-it/2403772/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">comment</a> to a Dallas TV station claiming Americans "still don't know whether children can get [the virus] and transmit it to others." Thousands of people under the age of 20 have tested positive for the coronavirus in Texas. Recent data suggests that children can get and transmit the virus, but at a lower rate than adults.</p><p>Cornyn <a href="https://twitter.com/PatrickSvitek/status/1240313651942260736" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">defended the Corona tweet</a> as an effort to keep the public calm, while acknowledging not everyone found it effective. On his misleading comment about children and the coronavirus, Cornyn's office said he could have used better language but that he was questioning the extent of transmission among children, not whether they can become infected in the first place. His office pointed to a <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottGottliebMD/status/1281191162775244800" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tweet around the same time</a> from former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, who said data showed kids are "less likely to become infected and less likely to transmit infection," though it was not certain.</p><p>Throughout the pandemic, Cornyn has remained generally aligned with the leader of the state's response, Gov. <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/directory/greg-abbott/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Greg Abbott</a>. Abbott's approval ratings have taken a dive as he has navigated the pandemic.</p><p>"I think the governor's done a good job," Cornyn said, "and I think everybody's tried to do their best under unprecedented circumstances."</p><p><strong>"Personality stuff"</strong></p><p>At the end of the day, Cornyn's fate may be tied to Trump more than anyone else come November. Asked about his biggest challenge this November, Cornyn brought up the massive turnout that is expected, largely driven by the polarizing president, and how different it will be from when he was last on the ballot. A total of 4.6 million people participated in the 2014 Senate election, and Cornyn said he likely will have to garner more votes than that alone this fall to win a fourth term.</p><p>With Trump dominating the political landscape across the country, Cornyn said he does not "just want to kind of surf the waves of national news cycles" and wants to make a case for himself independent of Trump. The president gave Cornyn an early reelection endorsement, helping to ensure a noncompetitive primary.</p><p>Cornyn occasionally offers gentle dissent with the president but has not emphatically broken with him on any major issue in recent memory. When it comes to the November election, he said he would like Trump to talk more about his accomplishments, namely on the economy — and that he has expressed as much to the president.</p><p>"To me the real question in this election is: Who do you think is best suited to help rebuild our economy in the wake of the pandemic?" Cornyn said. "Is it Joe Biden and Kamala Harris? Or is it Donald Trump and Mike Pence? And for me, it's not even close."</p><p>Beyond policy, though, Hegar has sought to make the race almost as much about character, pitching herself as a stronger avatar of Texas toughness.</p><p>In ads, Hegar talks up her military heroism and rides her motorcycle, and on the stump, she has denounced Cornyn as a "spineless, pantywaist, bootlicking ass-kisser." She defended the approach in the interview, saying it is "important people understand his level of cowardice because I've been to D.C." — to lobby for women in combat — and she has seen firsthand what it takes to overcome adversity there.</p><p>Cornyn laughed in the interview when asked about Hegar's insinuation that he is not tough enough, predicting voters would be turned off by the "personality stuff."</p><p>"I don't think this election is about me, and it's not about her," Cornyn said. "This is about the policies that have made Texas the envy of the nation when it comes to opportunities and people pursuing their dreams."</p><p><br/></p><p><strong>More on the Senate race:</strong></p>
<h2><a href="https://austonia.com/john-cornyn-mj-hegar-texas-senate-race" target="_self">Round Rock "badass" MJ Hegar and three-term incumbent John Cornyn face each other—and the pandemic—in Senate race</a></h2>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU2NDUwMC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwODcxODU1NH0.9ENSeAsMLrxSiQSCvVX0Kq_zZuEKio1pEaOpsDuj0Hg/img.png?width=980" id="b362e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3eaaf81491bcc6b0c48118dd5bd27e7c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Round Rock “badass” MJ Hegar and three-term incumbent John Cornyn face each other—and the pandemic—in Senate race
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(Eddie Gaspar/The Daily Texan)
UT-Austin students who purchase "The Big Ticket" must take a COVID-19 test on Friday and test negative before they can attend Saturday's football season opener against the University of Texas at El Paso.
By Stacy Fernandez
Officials at the University of Texas at Austin said Wednesday night that students with football season tickets will be required to take a COVID-19 test on Friday and test negative before they can attend Saturday's season opener against the University of Texas at El Paso.
<p>But the same precautions won't be required of thousands of other fans in the stands thus Saturday. There is no testing requirement for fans who aren't UT-Austin students, nor is there a requirement for visitors from El Paso. And not all UT-Austin students are required to be tested — only those who buy "The Big Ticket" season package are subject to the tests, but students who purchase individual game tickets are exempt, said J.B. Bird, a UT-Austin spokesperson.</p><p>The mandatory pre-game tests will be provided by the university for free. Students will have from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to get tested on campus Friday, according to the university athletics <a href="https://texassports.com/sports/2020/6/9/big-ticket-students.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">website</a>.</p><p>University officials did not immediately respond to questions about why testing only applied to students.</p><p>Students, however, were not required to test negative before returning to campus or attending in-person classes.</p><p>The Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium where the game will be held holds a little over 100,000 people, but capacity for the game will be limited to about 25,000 fans. Meanwhile, outdoor gatherings in Austin are still limited to 10 people or less. Gov. Greg Abbott, however, allowed Texas sports to <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/05/28/texas-reopening-sports-greg-abbott/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">resume with limited fans in the stands</a>.</p><p>Austin officials have repeatedly voiced concerns about the public health effects of hosting such a large gathering at this time."Our gathering limit is 10, and having 25,000 people in one space is a concern," Mark Escott, Austin Public Health's interim health authority, said at a press conference Wednesday morning.</p><p>Game attendees must wear masks, there will be marking for social distance and tailgates will not be allowed. The university also added 225 hand sanitizer stations throughout the stadium.</p><p>Wednesday, the university <a href="https://coronavirus.utexas.edu/campus-announcements" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reported</a> three coronavirus clusters in a university dorm with about 100 positive cases collectively.</p><p>Earlier this week, Baylor University and Louisiana Tech University postponed their opening game due to a spike in coronavirus cases following Hurricane Laura, according to a <a href="https://baylorbears.com/news/2020/9/8/football-baylor-louisiana-tech-season-opener-postponed.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">university statement</a>. Texas Christian University also postponed its season opener against Southern Methodist University. Both games were scheduled for Saturday.</p><p><em><a href="https://www.texastribune.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Texas Tribune</a> is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.</em></p><p><strong>More on UT:</strong></p>
<h2><a href="https://austonia.com/ut-austin-covid-2647567830" target="_self">UT Austin reports three COVID clusters with about 100 cases total</a></h2>
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(Jordan Vonderhaar)
Students sit distanced from one another in the lunch room at Jacob's Well Elementary School in Wimberley.
By Aliyya Swaby and Emma Platoff
On a normal first day of school, Texas children would wake up early to cram into school buses, eager to huddle and chat with their friends in the hallways before streaming toward their classrooms.
<p>On Tuesday, as many of the state's biggest urban and suburban districts return for their first day of in-person instruction, there is anxiety mingled with that excitement. Many parents will not be allowed to walk their kindergarteners inside for their first day. Teenagers will be shooed away if they congregate around their lockers. Meals will be grab-and-go, often eaten in classrooms instead of raucous cafeterias. Students and teachers will wear masks, trying to stay as far apart from one another as possible even as they come together for the first time in months.</p><p>Many kids will not be entering their schools at all. Some of the state's biggest districts, including Houston and Dallas independent school districts, will not open their classrooms for in-person learning until late September or October, and they may even ask the state for more time if the virus isn't under control.</p><p>In-person instruction will look very different from campus to campus. Some districts will bring students back in phases, starting with those who most need in-person education, like students with disabilities or those learning English. In San Antonio's North East ISD, no more than five students will be in each classroom this week. Other districts are welcoming back all students who opted for in-person instruction at the same time.</p><p>Only about half of Seguin ISD's students are expected to head into classrooms Tuesday morning for the first day of in-person instruction. They will walk past thermal scanners, which can measure the body temperature of about 30 people at a time and detect fevers that may be signs of illness. Middle and high school students will sit in desks spread apart, in many cases less than 6 feet with dividers, and younger students will be separated by dividers at large round tables.</p><p>Most teachers will be simultaneously instructing 12 to 16 students in their classrooms and more at home tuning in from cellphones or laptops. Some teachers will sit in empty classrooms and broadcast lessons to 20 or 30 students. A small number who have health conditions or young children received waivers to teach virtually from their homes.</p><p>"Things are ever changing. The one thing I've appreciated that stayed constant was the interest in students returning has been at 50%," Superintendent Matthew Gutierrez said of his 7,200-student district east of San Antonio. "I believe that we can safely social distance at that number in our buildings."</p><p>Parent interest in in-person instruction varies greatly across the state. In some hard-hit parts of the state, like Mercedes ISD in South Texas, the vast majority of parents are opting for virtual learning. In Texarkana's Bowie County, where coronavirus cases have stayed relatively low, most Maud ISD parents have already sent their kids to school in person.</p><p>Local health authorities continue to clash with school districts over whether it's safe to open, concerned that Labor Day festivities could lead to higher case numbers, as Memorial Day did this spring. Fort Bend County health officials sent Katy ISD a letter in late July urging it not to open classrooms or start extracurricular activities "before late September in the vast majority of cases," until the "effect of the Labor Day holiday can be determined."</p><p>Katy ISD, which has schools in Fort Bend, Harris and Waller counties, plans to reopen classrooms Tuesday.</p><p>When schools were forced by the pandemic to hurriedly switch to virtual learning in the spring, most Texas districts didn't require teachers to conduct live virtual lessons, but more are attempting that type of instruction this year. That means many teachers will have to simultaneously instruct two groups of students: those in front of them, and those watching from their iPads and laptops.</p><p>In Seguin ISD, most of the lessons will also be recorded for students who couldn't find time to log in and watch live, important in a district with 71% low-income students, Gutierrez said. "You have parents that have multiple jobs. They're shift workers. To expect that our students are going to go through their entire day at home alongside the face-to-face learners is really unreasonable when they don't have that support, that structure or that supervision at home. They would be missing out on instruction."</p><p>He acknowledged that those students will be missing out on the benefits of live instruction: having a teacher correct their pronunciation of a challenging word or being able to ask questions about a complex math problem in real time.</p><p>Austin ISD starts virtually Tuesday and plans to open classrooms in early October. Eight-year-old Isla Arb will start third grade at Graham Elementary School online Tuesday and will continue virtually to avoid endangering her grandmother, who has cancer, said her mother, Katie Arb. Both Katie Arb and her husband work full time, so they hired another mother to watch Isla and her 4-year-old sibling on weekdays. They're paying her about $15 per hour, as well as paid sick leave and vacation, replacing some of the pay she had received as a dental hygienist before the pandemic.</p><p>"The bulk of her responsibilities are going to be to keep the 4-year-old away from our 8-year-old," Katie Arb said.</p><p>Isla is excited about getting to wear a unicorn onesie to virtual school every day at the messy desk in her bedroom. But she got quiet when she thought about her classmates and teachers returning to campus in October. "I don't want them to get coronavirus," she said sadly.</p><p>Even students who return to Austin ISD's campuses will effectively be learning virtually. When she goes back to school in early October, Austin ISD high school theater teacher Rachel Seney will sit in a classroom, with a mask on, leading a virtual class through musical numbers or dramatic exercises. Students spread 6 feet apart will sit in front of her on their laptops, each one completing assignments or watching a different teacher deliver instruction.</p><p>Students will spend nearly the entire day, including lunch, in one classroom, a plan intended to reduce the public health risks during a pandemic. If one child or staff member gets infected, it will be easy to trace exactly who they were in contact with — meaning there's no need to shut down entire campuses or districts.</p><p>Seney, who teaches at predominantly white and high-income Anderson High School, said she sees the model as more equitable since all students end up learning virtually in some way. "You're not teaching equitably if you have some students in front of you and some students online. Now that some schools have started going back and are using that model, I'm already seeing it's not happening," she said. "It's not really effective."</p><p>Her sister Blair Seney will be doing just that at Cypress Falls High School in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, miles away in Harris County's suburbs. A special education educator, she helps modify assignments or provide extra time on testing for students with disabilities alongside a primary classroom teacher.</p><p>"We're expected to teach at the same time the kids that are in the classroom who don't have access to technology and the students at home who are on the computer," Blair Seney said. She has been a constant agitator for more safety requirements in schools and more flexibility for teachers terrified to return in person. In August, she stood in the back of a school board meeting with a sign that said, "Your attendance is required at my funeral," while her mother, also a teacher at the school, spoke at the public hearing. That month, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD teachers <a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Teachers-union-drops-suit-against-Cy-Fair-ISD-15498512.php" target="_blank">unsuccessfully sued</a> the district, asking not to be required to report to their campuses for training.</p><p>About 42% of students have decided to attend school in person, according to a district survey. Often, Blair Seney pulls students into her office, a tiny storage closet with no ventilation, for one-on-one assistance. "I'm not sure how that's going to work," she said. "It is definitely a thought that's keeping me up at night, trying to figure out how we're going to make all this work."</p><p>Health precautions vary among districts and schools. Under Gov. <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/directory/greg-abbott/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Greg Abbott</a>'s order, everyone over the age of 10 must wear a mask. But guidance from the Texas Education Agency leaves districts largely on their own to design protections against a virus that spreads undetected in as many as 40% of those who have it. In many districts, maintaining 6 feet of distance among students will simply not be possible.</p><p>"It's very scattershot," said Monty Exter, a lobbyist for the Association of Texas Professional Educators. "There's a huge variation in the policies that are being put in place within districts to protect the health and safety of educators, from physical structures to logistics to access to [personal protective equipment]. Absolutely there have been districts that say, 'Here's your two gloves and your mask, that's all you're getting.'"</p><p>In Houston-area Humble ISD, where kids have been back in classrooms since late August, "it has been surprisingly normal," said Timbers Elementary School fifth grade teacher Stacey Ward. "Question mark?"</p><p>The 10- and 11-year-olds who tramp in for Ward's science and social studies classes have been surprisingly compliant about wearing their masks, though she sometimes has to remind them, with a single word — "mask!" or "nose" — to ensure the fabric covers their noses, too. Every other student sits behind a plexiglass barrier, spaced out as far apart as possible, but with 18 to 20 students per class, it has not been possible to keep 6 feet among them.</p><p>Instruction stops five minutes early so kids can wipe down their desks. Ward collects their books at the end of the day. There is no sharing of supplies.</p><p>And Ward has made one more adjustment. Typically, when students enter or exit her classroom, they get three options: high-five, hug or handshake.</p><p>This year, she's pivoted: "Now, it's an elbow, a knee or a foot," she said in a phone interview after her fourth day of in-person school. Elbow bumps are the runaway favorite.</p><p>Afterward, the students know to take a squirt of hand sanitizer. "It's normal to them now," she said.</p><p><em>ProPublica's Mollie Simon contributed reporting.</em></p><p><em><a href="https://www.texastribune.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Texas Tribune</a> is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. </em></p><p><strong style="">More on schools:</strong></p>
<h2><a href="https://austonia.com/eanes-and-del-valle-schools-reopen" target="_self">Two very different area school districts approach the same challenge: Educating in a pandemic</a></h2>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzc4ODkzMy9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMzI4MDMyMX0.wdzfqmuW_8R0b91KTlmH7Spejh282Z3z1q0b6DtwCDs/img.png?width=980" id="b5c57" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="90985426a54995f6c4b266de93b6f3be" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
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Gov. Greg Abbott considering legislation to put Austin police under state control after budget cut
03 September
Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune
Austin police officers gathered on Interstate 35 to remove protesters demonstrating against police brutality from the highway in May.
By Jolie McCullough
Gov. Greg Abbott is considering a legislative proposal that, if passed, would put the control of the Austin Police Department under state authority.
<p>Texas' governor <a href="https://twitter.com/GregAbbott_TX/status/1301634569775456256" target="_blank">tweeted</a> Thursday that he was looking at a strategy that would stop city officials' efforts to shift resources away from police departments and into other social services. Austin became the first Texas city to approve cutting its police budget last month as calls rise to "defund police" during a revived movement against police brutality and racial injustice.<br/></p><p>"This proposal for the state to takeover the Austin Police Department is one strategy I'm looking at," Abbott tweeted in response to <a href="https://www.reformaustin.org/public-safety/abbott-given-a-primer-for-state-takeover-of-austin-police-department/" target="_blank">an article from Reform Austin</a>. "We can't let Austin's defunding & disrespect for law enforcement to endanger the public & invite chaos like in Portland and Seattle."</p><p>The cities have experienced months of sometimes violent protests and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/28/us/federal-agents-portland-seattle-protests.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">controversial intervention</a> of federal agents. In Portland, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/31/us/governor-brown-portland-plan-curb-protests/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">protesters and counter-protesters clashed</a> after a President Donald Trump rally last month, and a member of a far-right political organization was fatally shot.</p><p>The potential legislation, sent last week to Abbott by former Texas House members and parliamentarians Terry Keel and Ron Wilson, would allow for a city with a population over 1 million and less than two police officers per 1,000 residents — a bucket Austin falls into — to have its police force consolidated with the Texas Department of Public Safety. The state's law enforcement branch would take over the local police department and form a new entity if the governor decided there were "insufficient municipal resources being appropriated for public safety needs," according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Texas Tribune.</p><p>The director of DPS would control operations of the new department, and the state's Public Safety Commission, a five-member board that oversees DPS and is appointed by the governor, would decide its budget, said Keel, who is also a former Travis County sheriff. The money would then be taken from state sales revenue taxes usually sent to the city.</p><p>"That letter basically is a roadmap to how the Legislature can address the problem in Austin," Keel told the Tribune last week. "Because Austin opened the door to the Legislature doing that, by defunding the police and by creating a public safety crisis."</p><p>Since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked protests across the nation, calls for cities to spend <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/06/13/defunding-police-texas-organizers/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">less money on policing and more on other social services</a> like health care and housing programs have gained large-scale traction. Floyd was a Black man who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck during an arrest past the point when he lost consciousness.</p><p>In Austin, police criticism was heightened in April after an officer <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/27/mike-ramos-austin-video/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">shot and killed Mike Ramos</a>, an unarmed Black and Hispanic man who was driving away from police. During protests in May spurred by Ramos' and Floyd's deaths, two nonviolent protesters — a Black man and Hispanic boy — were seriously injured after being hit in the head with police bean bag rounds.</p><p>Although calls to remove the police chief went unanswered, the progressive City Council in June issued a vote of no confidence in police leadership to make changes to end police violence against people of color, and, last month, <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/08/13/austin-city-council-cut-police-budget-defund/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">cut the department's budget</a>.</p><p>The 2021 Austin budget would immediately cut from the department approximately $20 million that will be redirected to fund areas like violence prevention, food access and abortion access programs. About $130 million was put into two transitional funds that will allow several of the department's traditional duties to remain funded while officials work out which responsibilities to keep under law enforcement and which to move out from under police oversight.</p><p>Policing is the most expensive item in most cities' budgets. Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/08/14/texas-police-budgets-austin-dallas-houston-san-antonio/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">budgeted more than one-third of their general funds for police departments</a> during the 2020 fiscal year. Austin, which has now decided to reduce its funding and reorganize its police department, budgeted $444 dollars per resident on police in the 2020 fiscal year, more than any of the four largest cities in Texas. In that city, violent crime rates dropped by 25% between 2008 and 2018. This year through July, there were 29 homicides, compared with 19 during the same period last year, according to <a href="https://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/081120_CMR_July_EXTERNAL.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">the police chief's monthly crime report</a>.</p><p>Abbott said in a statement after the budget vote that it paved the way for lawlessness and DPS troopers would stand in to protect the city. Days later, Abbott and other Republican state leaders <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/08/18/texas-police-funding-greg-abbott-dan-patrick/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">held a press conference to denounce the decision</a> and promoted a vague proposal to freeze property tax revenues for any city that defunds law enforcement, citing a recent uptick in crime.</p><p>Austin City Council member Greg Casar said Thursday that Abbott's latest tweet was another attempt to draw attention away from the state's failed response to the pandemic.</p><p>"This, just like the other likely illegal, absurd proposal, are attacks on Austin's local democracy and attacks on our focus on civil rights," he said. "When you look at it, it seems pretty clearly like an attempt at political theater and grandstanding."</p><p>An Abbott spokesperson did not respond to repeated requests about the proposed legislation last week.</p><p>The proposal for state police to take over a local police department is an action Casar and multiple policing reform advocates said they had never heard of happening before, but DPS is often entangled in city policing. The governor can send troopers into areas deemed in need of support. Last year, when Dallas had a startling number of homicides, <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2019/08/15/Dallas-crime-murder-rate-rises-state-troopers-resident-complaints/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Abbott also sent in his police force</a>.</p><p>Violent crime did drop in the areas of Dallas where they were deployed, but some city officials said they were still doing more harm than good. They said an "overwhelming" number of residents complained that the troopers were over-policing neighborhoods, questioning people about their immigration status and stopping people for soon-to-expire, but still valid, inspection stickers.</p><p>Sara Labowitz, policy and advocacy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, noted last week that the proposal follows a pattern of state leaders fighting to seize control from local officials, like mask orders during early months of the pandemic.</p><p>"States scream local control at the federal government and then squeeze localities of that same local control," she said. "Local government is the most democratic in a lot of ways, it is the most responsive to people."<br/></p><p><em>Juan Pablo Garnham contributed reporting.</em></p><p><em>This story was updated Thursday evening. </em></p>
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(Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune)
Texas is pursuing a last-minute advertising campaign with just a month of counting left for the 2020 census. Republican leaders previously rejected legislative efforts by Democrats to put money toward the count.
BY ALEXA URA
Through a small notice tucked into the state's business register, Texas appears to have acknowledged that the 2020 census count is going badly.
With just a month of counting to go in the crucial decennial census, the self-response rate for Texas households has barely topped 60%. As census workers have followed up in person with households that haven't responded, the share of households accounted for has risen to 79.5% — but Texas is still far behind several other states and several percentage points behind the national average.
<p>On Aug. 26, the Texas secretary of state's office <a href="http://www.txsmartbuy.com/esbddetails/view/RFP701002" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">quietly put out word</a> that it has up to $15 million to spend on an advertising campaign intended to urge residents <a href="https://2020census.gov/en.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">to get themselves counted</a>. The effort — which Texas will pay for by dipping into federal dollars meant to address the coronavirus pandemic — amounts to a last-minute about-face by the state, whose Republican leadership had previously shot down any significant state funding for efforts to avoid an undercount.</p><p>The urgency the state is feeling a month out from the census deadline is apparent in the timeline of its request for proposals for a broadcast, print and digital campaign to "educate Texans on the significance and value of participating in the 2020 Census" and drive up response rates. The notice was posted last week, and bids are due by Wednesday. The contract is projected to begin two days later. Counting for the census is set to end Sept. 30.</p><p>The latest census figures showed that households in urban, Democratic-leaning areas of Texas had <a href="https://2020census.gov/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">filled out the census online, by phone or by mail</a> at higher rates than those in more rural, Republican-controlled areas and South Texas communities. The U.S. Census Bureau's door-to-door campaign to follow up with households that did not respond to the census is ongoing.</p><p>The state's sudden pursuit of a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign to promote the count comes more than a year after it left local governments, nonprofits and <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/01/10/without-state-funds-texas-communities-gear-2020-census/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">even churches to fill the organization void</a> in chasing an accurate count.</p><p>"It's frustrating that we're doing this at the last minute," said Luis Figueroa, the legislative and policy director for Every Texan, a left-leaning think tank previously known as the Center for Public Policy Priorities that has been at the forefront of census efforts in the state. "We hope there is enough time for it to be meaningful and effective. There's an adage about 'better late than never,' but there is also 'a day late and a penny short.'"</p><p>A spokesperson for the Texas secretary of state's office confirmed the $15 million budget for the campaign, funded through a portion of the money the state received through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act passed by Congress. Neither the secretary of state nor a spokesperson for Gov. <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/directory/greg-abbott/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Greg Abbott</a> responded to questions about the state's last-minute decision to spend money promoting the count.</p><p>An accurate census is paramount to the state's economic and political future. The population count flows down to Texans' daily lives for an entire decade. If it is carried out properly, census estimates indicate that Texas should post huge population gains since 2010, with more than 3.8 million new residents.</p><p>But every person missed puts funding on the line for everything from early childhood programs to highway planning and construction. An inaccurate count will lead to faulty data that is used to build communities, including where grocery stores are built and whether schools will be large enough. The once-a-decade count is also used to distribute political power, with the population data used to determine how many seats Texas gets in Congress and how to divvy up voters into political districts.</p><p>If enough Texans are missed in the count, it would jeopardize the three additional seats in Congress the state was expected to gain after this census.</p><p>Even as other states put millions of dollars into census campaigns, Texas lawmakers declined to put additional state dollars toward the census during last year's legislative session, rejecting proposals by Democratic lawmakers to create a statewide outreach committee and set aside millions of dollars in grants for local outreach efforts.</p><p>Already without state funds, the local canvassing and outreach efforts were derailed by the coronavirus pandemic. Then, the U.S. Census Bureau announced it was moving up the deadline for responding up by a month. Combined with the strain on outreach efforts brought on by the pandemic, the earlier deadline has heightened the risks that Texas will be undercounted and that some Texans, particularly those who are low income or Hispanic, will be missed in the count as the pandemic continues to ravage their communities.</p><p>"Republicans had an opportunity to address this. They refused to do this, and now the secretary of state is in the fourth quarter of the game, in the final seconds, trying to throw a Hail Mary, and it ain't going to work," said state Rep. César Blanco, an El Paso Democrat who had unsuccessfully pursued state dollars for the census. "This is an embarrassment."</p><h2></h2>
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