The Blast - July 7, 2025

8 days until the TEC and FEC filing deadlines
14 days until the first special session

IN TODAY’S BLAST

• Patrick names siren installations as potential session item

• Toth reschedules announcement

• Patrick’s pity party for Schatzline

• Trump credits Rollins on deportation exception plan

PATRICK NAMES SIREN INSTALLATIONS AS POTENTIAL SESSION ITEM

Texas is still reeling from the floods in Kerr County and the Hill Country, but with a special session only two weeks away, Austin is beginning to think about ways to prevent another tragedy.

The Legislature will return on July 21 for a special session about THC regulation and other topics, but Gov. Greg Abbott could add flood-related issues to the call.

Speaking on Fox News this afternoon, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick mentioned the upcoming special session and said he had spoken with the governor.

“It’s going to take time, obviously, to look back and do a total analysis of everything, but one thing that stood out to me and the governor was I think it was the mayor or the county judge that said the voters didn’t want sirens here,” Patrick said. “Well, the governor suggested — and I said we’ll be all in in the Senate, and I’m sure the House will — then the state needs to step up and pay for these.”

“If the city can’t afford it,” he continued, “then the state will step up, and we need to have these in place by the next summer.”

Abbott didn’t get into specifics about expanding the special session call during a press conference yesterday but said it “is going to be a topic for the special session.”

“It’s going to be something that will be looked at,” Abbott said. “The reality also is this, and that is, what’s needed in that river basin at that location could be far different than what is needed in some other river basin across the state.”

One emergency-related bill with some newfound attention is House Bill 13, filed by House State Affairs and former Panhandle Wildfires Investigative Committee Chair Ken King, R-Canadian. The bill would have created the Texas Interoperability Council, tasked with developing a statewide strategic plan on emergency communication equipment, like warning sirens.

All of King’s bills stalled in the Senate during the regular session, when several of Patrick’s priorities were stuck in the House State Affairs Committee. While many of King’s bills eventually passed the Senate, HB 13 was one that never moved again.

Patrick’s spokesperson, Steven Aranyi, told the Tribune that the bill was flawed because it proposed local planning grants over the course of up to 10 years, meaning the system would have been outdated by the time they came online. However, Aranyi did flag $547 million in funding for disaster response purposes.

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TOTH RESCHEDULES ANNOUNCEMENT

State Rep. Steve Toth, R-Conroe, was expected to announce his primary challenge to U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Spring, tomorrow evening, but Toth has postponed the announcement till July 15 out of respect for the Central Texas flood victims.

Toth alerted his supporters to the delay in a video posted to social media.

Former congressional candidate Christian Collins is set to be Toth’s choice to succeed him in House District 15. Collins tells The Blast he has also postponed his accompanying campaign launch.

PATRICK’S PITY PARTY FOR SCHATZLINE

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick will attend Rep. Nate Schatzline’s fundraiser later this month, his latest boost to the Fort Worth Republican after Patrick snuffed out his state Senate bid.

Late last month, Schatzline announced his campaign to succeed acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock in Senate District 9. Within the week, Schatzline dropped out and endorsed Patriot Mobile’s Leigh Wambsganss. Patrick followed suit minutes later, the culmination of an apparent behind-the-scenes snub of Schatzline by the lieutenant governor.

Now, Patrick will be the special guest at Schatzline’s Austin Club fundraiser on July 23. That followed Patrick announcing Schatzline as his first state House endorsement for the 2026 cycle last week.

TRUMP CREDITS ROLLINS ON DEPORTATION EXCEPTION PLAN

President Donald Trump announced he is working on an exemption to “protect” longtime farm, hotel and leisure workers who are in the country illegally.

Speaking at Alligator Alcatraz in Florida last week, Trump characterized the plan as “farmer responsibility, or owner responsibility.”

“We have a lot of cases where ICE would go into a farm, and these are guys who are working there for 10, 15 years, no problem,” Trump told reporters.

Speaking in Iowa a couple days later, the president said the idea came from U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, as The New York Times and others have reported.

“Now, serious radical right people, who I also happen to like a lot, they may not be quite as happy, but they’ll understand, won’t they?” Trump said before addressing Texas’ native daughter. “Do you think they’ll understand that you’re the one that brought this whole situation up?”

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Next week:

• The House Natural Resources Committee will meet at 1 p.m. on July 15 to hear invited testimony about groundwater production in the Neches and Trinity Valleys Groundwater Conservation District.

View the full list of upcoming committee notices here and here.

• Presidential: Axios reported today in a list of maneuvers by potential 2028 GOP contenders that U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, the runner-up in the 2016 primary, is planning to host a donor retreat next year. However, Cruz routinely holds an annual donor retreat.

• TX-15: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee launched a digital ad today targeting U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Edinburg, over her vote for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The still image says, “Because of her vote, rural hospitals across America are now at risk of closing.” TX-15 is the one Texas district the DCCC is targeting in the midterms. De La Cruz beat Democrat Michelle Vallejo by 14 points in their 2024 rematch.

• From late May: The Conroe ISD Board of Trustees has enlisted Texans for Excellence in Education to lead the search for the next superintendent. TEE launched in 2023 as an aspiring competitor to the Texas Associations of School Boards. However, Conroe ISD will continue to be a member of TASB. The application deadline is July 18.

• President Donald Trump will visit Central Texas “later this week,” likely Friday.

• Gov. Greg Abbott will hold a press conference in Kerrville at 5 p.m. tomorrow.

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• Jordan Pawlicki, a former senior account executive at Ragnar Research, has joined the Associated Republicans of Texas as political director.

• Josh Bradley, who spent the last two and a half years as chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Nathaniel Moran, R-Tyler, has joined Pernod Ricard USA as senior director of public affairs and policy. Bradley previously served in the offices of former U.S. Reps. Kevin Brady, R-Spring, Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land, and Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler.

“Ted Cruz was vacationing in Greece when the deadly Texas floods broke out. His office says he took the first flight home.” by Owen Dahlkamp and Gabby Birenbaum of The Texas Tribune

“White House defends national forecasting agency amid questions about warnings, response to Texas floods” by Alejandro Serrano of The Texas Tribune

• Read here for the latest from the Tribune about the Hill Country floods.

“Austin fire chief faces no confidence vote over delayed Kerr County flood response” by Austin Sanders of the Austin American-Statesman

“Man with an assault rifle killed after shooting at a Border Patrol facility in Texas” by Valerie Gonzalez and Sara Cline of The Associated Press

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(July 7) State Rep. Philip Cortez, D-San Antonio
(July 7) Lobbyist Karen Johnson Rove
(July 7) Former Texas Secretary of State and Railroad Commissioner Tony Garza

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