Texas Tribune
In reelection bid, Tony Gonzales under attack for centrism
by Matthew Choi, The Texas Tribune – 2024-02-22 14:54:00
SUMMARY: U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales faces opposition in Texas's 23rd congressional district after being censured by the state GOP for moderate views on gun control and border security. His primary rivals, including Julie Clark, Brandon Herrera, Victor Avila, and Frank Lopez, claim he does not align with the district's conservative values. Despite the censure, Gonzales has a financial advantage, with $2.6 million raised. The district has previously favored moderates, such as Gonzales' predecessor Will Hurd. Gonzales stands by his record, touting his support of bipartisan initiatives, like the major gun safety bill passed after the Uvalde shooting in his district.
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WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales' primary challengers want to prove that moderate congressmen aren't welcome in the border district anymore.
Gonzales is running for reelection in the 23rd congressional district for the first time since the Texas GOP censured him for breaking with the party over his positions on gun control and border security. The rebuke against one of their own means the state Republican Party doesn't have to spend money to help defend his incumbency.
Among those running against Gonzales is Julie Clark, the former Medina County Republican Party Chair who was responsible for the measure to censure him. Also running: Brandon Herrera, a Second-Amendment activist on YouTube; Victor Avila, a former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations agent; and retired Border Patrol agent Frank Lopez, who ran the campaign of Gonzales' 2020 far-right primary opponent Raul Reyes.
The candidates largely agree that Gonzales doesn't represent the values of the massive, sparsely populated district, which stretches from San Antonio to El Paso. They point to Gonzales' repeated refusal to play ball with his other Texas Republicans in the U.S. House on issues ranging from border security to the speaker of the House.
But Gonzales, who declined requests for an interview and did not respond to a list of emailed questions, has a huge financial advantage — raising $2.6 million last year. Clark has a lead among Gonzales' challengers, having raised $843,000 last year — however, almost all of that came from money she personally gave to her campaign. Herrera is closely following Clark with more grassroots support. Lopez is in last, raising just over $7,000.
Another reason for confidence from Gonzales — district voters have rewarded moderates in the past. Gonzales succeeded U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, a centrist Republican who became known for working across the aisle with his Democratic El Paso counterpart, Beto O'Rourke. And he narrowly defeated Reyes' grassroots campaign in 2020.
But Gonzales isn't taking the primary for granted.
“I'm going to kick their ass no doubt, but it's going to cost me time, money, energy, effort,” Gonzales said in an interview last year after the censure motion. “Instead of fending off against the Democrats here, I have to go drown crazy Republicans.”
Clark, Herrera and Avila said getting rid of Gonzales was as much a motivation as representing the district in Congress. If the primary goes to a runoff — a likelihood with this much money split among the candidates — Avila said he would back whoever isn't Gonzales. Clark did not make the same commitment when asked.
The majority Hispanic district was a more competitive seat before redistricting ahead of 2022, voting for former President Donald Trump by 1.7 percentage points. But with new lines, the district would have voted for Trump by 7.1 points.
Unseating Gonzales
The state Republican party censured Gonzales in March of last year, citing his votes in favor of same-sex marriage legislation, his refusal to back a House rules package negotiated between former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and several far-right Republicans, his objection to a hardline border proposal introduced by U.S. Rep. Chip Roy and his support for bipartisan gun safety legislation.
Gonzales stood out among the rest of the delegation on all of those points. He was the only Texas Republican in the House to support marriage equality legislation and the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act last year. The gun safety bill, brokered largely by Sen. John Cornyn, was the first major gun safety legislation in decades and passed in the wake of the Robb Elementary shooting in Uvalde, which is in the district. It brought millions in federal money to state and local governments, including Uvalde, to shore up mental health and gun safety initiatives.
Gonzales was also the only Republican in the U.S. House to vote against a rules package finalizing McCarthy's speakership last year. The package convinced far-right members of the House to support McCarthy's bid for speaker, but Gonzales felt it was too draconian, particularly on budget reductions. He feared at the time that the budget reduction targets would harm defense spending.
And on the border, his feuding with Roy on his border package irritated several members of the Texas delegation, who were frustrated to see divisions within their group broadcast to the world. The bill would have expelled migrants once detention capacity in the country was full. Gonzales called Roy's bill “un-American” and “un-Christian”, claiming those expulsions would amount to eliminating asylum. Roy fiercely denied that he was against asylum.
The two ended up working together on a hardline border bill that the entire House Republican conference passed last year. But the acrimony left a bad taste in many members' mouths.
Gonzales hinted last year that Clark launched the censure to launch her own political aspirations. “It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out there's some politics there,” he said.
Clark said that she was reflecting the will of the voters and had no desire to run for office when she launched the resolution.
“Once I was elected [county chair], I had a flood of complaints coming in not only in my county, but across the district on Tony's voting results, and they wanted something done about it,” Clark said. “I didn't even know what a censure was.”
Herrera made a name for himself as a YouTuber under the moniker “the AK Guy.” On his YouTube channel, which has over 3.23 million subscribers, he said he was running to defend gun owners from federal legislation, such as the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
Herrera has raised over $812,000, with $640,000 coming from individual contributions. In a Congress filled with politicians who try to be social media influencers, he would be among the budding field of social media influencers trying to become politicians.
“It's like once they win their first election, they feel untouchable in the primary,” Herrera said in a video explaining his candidacy and referencing Gonzales, whom he called an “establishment Republican”. “We have to remind them that if they fail to uphold their oath to defend the Constitution, we will primary them, we will campaign against them and we will win.”
Herrera did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.
It's yet to be seen whether his national profile will translate to the district. A sizable portion of Herrera's contributions come from out of the district and even the state. He announced his candidacy in Florida at the Young Americans for Liberty conference.
Herrera also is testing how a pro-gun message would fare in Uvalde's district in the aftermath of Texas' most deadly school shooting. Gonzales often cited representing the city as a motivation for his support for the gun safety bill and worked with the city government to ensure it received federal funds from the bill.
Herrera made headlines last December when he left an inactive explosive in an Uvalde restaurant at a campaign event, prompting San Antonio's bomb squad to investigate. Herrera's campaign later said the device was a spent shell that posed no safety risks. His campaign apologized.
Herrera also drew criticism for joking about veteran suicides, saying, “I often think about putting a gun in my mouth, so I'm basically an honorary veteran.”
Clark was among those critics.
“This is one of the largest veteran districts in the country,” Clark said. “I just can't even believe that someone would think that something like that is funny. My husband is a veteran.”
Avila does not have as much money, but he has key endorsements. He has reported raising just over $91,000 by the end of last year. He also has more grassroots support, with individual contributions to his campaign more than tripling those Clark has received .
He has the endorsements of Tom Homan, former director of ICE under Trump, and Joe Arpaio, the former sheriff of Arizona's Maricopa County famous for his hardline border enforcement that made him subject to a series of civil rights lawsuits.
Both Avila and Clark expressed interest in joining the Freedom Caucus and placed securing the border at the top of their agendas.
Gonzales says ‘Come and take it'
Gonzales blows his challengers out of the water in fundraising, gaining the support of a host of prominent business interests in his district. He raised well over $2.6 million last year, finishing 2023 with over $1 million in cash on hand. His donors include corporate interests in the fossil fuel, telecommunications and agriculture industries.
Gonzales' relationship with the business community has not always been smooth sailing. He returned $5,800 in campaign donations last cycle to El Paso business leader Woody Hunt after Hunt tried to push for keeping more of the city in Rep. Veronica Escobar's district. Gonzales blasted Hunt at the time, calling his business “corrupt” and threatening to investigate it.
“I don't care who you are. If I feel I've been wronged … I'm going to push back. I've done that over and over again. And guess what, I'm not going to stop,” Gonzales said in an interview last year.
Gonzales appears to have made amends with Hunt, who gave him about $1,800 last August for his primary effort. Hunt has given to members of both parties in the past. He declined to comment.
Gonzales also has garnered some good will in parts of his district in the wake of the Robb Elementary shooting. After the bipartisan gun safety bill passed, Gonzales brought in millions to Uvalde to bolster mental health resources, then-Mayor Don McLaughlin said. McLaughlin resigned to run for state representative.
“Every politician gets up there and talks about mental health, we're gonna do this, and we're gonna do that. But none of them put up. They all talk a good game. But when it comes time to put up, they're nowhere to be found,” McLaughlin said in an interview last year. “[Tony] is behind what we're trying to do here. And, you know, he's tried to open as many doors as he can.”
“Everything we've asked for, he's tried to make available to us,” McLaughlin said.
The Texas GOP censure motion has also in some ways helped raise Gonzales' profile to the ranks of other centrist pragmatists. Similarly centrist minded lawmakers, including Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Arizona, and Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, have praised him as a workhorse.
He has also launched himself on national border priorities among conservatives. Gonzales has led numerous Republican delegations to the border in highly publicized tours.
Gonzales was also a critical supporter of impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. He became one of the most vocal supporters of the effort last year, working with House Republican leadership to convince more moderates to vote for impeachment. Far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, introduced the impeachment resolution, which passed the House last week on a party-line vote. A handful of moderate Republicans opposed the resolution.
But critics say his efforts touting his border record aren't consistent with his record at home.
“He comes with the media and he, you know, brings all these senators and congressmen and it's all a show,” said Sandra Sassano, Republican Party chair for Maverick County, which includes Eagle Pass.
When asked for an interview about his working relationship with Gonzales, El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser responded with a terse email.
“I know Rep. Gonzales has been to El Paso, but he has never reached out to me. I have never met him. As such, the working relationship is non-existent,” Leeser wrote. “As Mayor of the sixth largest city in Texas — which contains part of the district he represents — I would welcome establishing a collaborative working relationship with him or anyone holding that elected position.”
Leeser has previously had the endorsement of the Texas Democratic Party, though the mayorship is nonpartisan. Leeser's office declined to have a full interview.
“Money isn't everything. Most people in his position probably think that it is, but it isn't. So I go back to the values,” Sassano said. “Does he represent my values? Absolutely not.”
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Texas Tribune
Ted Cruz files bill to protect IVF
by By Eleanor Klibanoff, The Texas Tribune – 2024-05-20 09:45:47
SUMMARY: U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and Senator Katie Britt have introduced the IVF Protection Act to safeguard access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) amid changing anti-abortion laws. The bill aims to make states ineligible for Medicaid funding if they ban IVF. This legislative effort follows an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that classified embryos as protected human life, prompting some IVF providers to pause services. The Texas Supreme Court may also consider a case impacting IVF. Cruz, seeking reelection against Democrat Colin Allred, emphasizes IVF's importance for families. Texas Governor Greg Abbott supports clarifying state laws to protect IVF, while Senate Democrats and House Speaker Mike Johnson diverge on federal versus state jurisdiction.
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U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is leading a charge to protect access to in vitro fertilization as conservative states scramble to figure out where IVF fits in the new anti-abortion legal landscape.
On Monday, Cruz and Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama, both conservative, anti-abortion Republicans, filed the IVF Protection Act, which would make states ineligible to receive Medicaid funding if they ban IVF.
This bill comes in response to a ruling from the Alabama Supreme Court earlier this year that said embryos are protected human life when it comes to the state's wrongful death statute. After that ruling, many IVF providers paused those services until the Alabama Legislature passed temporary protections.
The Texas Supreme Court is considering taking up a case that could “upend IVF in Texas,” experts say. A woman has asked the court to overturn previous court rulings that awarded her ex-husband their three frozen embryos in their divorce, arguing that Texas' new abortion laws require embryos to have the same rights as living children.
Almost as soon as the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in summer 2022 and allowed states to ban abortion, questions emerged about the legal status of IVF.
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed announcing this legislation, Cruz and Britt said Republicans want to “protect both life and IVF.”
“IVF has given miraculous hope to millions of Americans, and it has given families across the country the gift of children,” Cruz said in a statement. “I'm proud to partner with Sen. Katie Britt to ensure that couples in Texas and across the country have the opportunity to be loving parents, by ensuring that IVF is fully protected at the federal level.”
IVF is “profoundly pro-family,” the pair wrote in the op-ed. “Our bill will honor and support families seeking to welcome a new baby into their lives through IVF.”
Cruz is up for reelection this year, facing Democratic Congressman Colin Allred, who has made Cruz's support for Texas' abortion laws a key part of his campaign. In a statement after the Alabama court ruling, Allred said Cruz had done nothing to protect IVF, and his “dangerous record” on abortion and fetal personhood issues puts Texas families “rights and freedoms at risk.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has expressed his support for IVF, saying he believes the Legislature will clarify state law to protect the procedure.
Meanwhile, in D.C., Senate Democrats have tried unsuccessfully to pass two bills to protect IVF access, and House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he believes this is an issue best left to the states.
Pointing out that 86% of Americans believe IVF should be legal, Cruz and Britt say this should be a bipartisan bill that protects “life, family and personal liberty.”
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The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
Texas Tribune
Trump says Paxton would make good U.S. attorney general
by By Jasper Scherer, The Texas Tribune – 2024-05-20 08:47:03
SUMMARY: Former President Donald Trump is considering Ken Paxton, Texas' Attorney General, for the role of U.S. Attorney General if re-elected. Trump commended Paxton's abilities and loyalty, highlighting his legal challenge to the 2020 election results and his support during Trump's impeachment defense. Paxton was impeached for bribery allegations but acquitted, with Trump claiming credit for the outcome. Recent polls show Trump leading President Biden in key states. Paxton's legal issues have diminished following the dropping of securities fraud charges, although federal investigations continue. If nominated, Paxton's Senate confirmation faces partisan challenges and opposition from notable Republicans.
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Former President Donald Trump said he would consider tapping Ken Paxton for U.S. attorney general if he wins a second term in the White House, calling his longtime ally “a very talented guy” and praising his tenure as Texas' chief legal officer.
“I would, actually,” Trump said Saturday when asked by a KDFW-TV reporter if he would consider Paxton for the national post. “He's very, very talented. I mean, we have a lot of people that want that one and will be very good at it. But he's a very talented guy.”
Paxton has long been a close ally of Trump, famously waging an unsuccessful legal challenge to Trump's 2020 election loss in four battleground states. He also spoke at the pro-Trump rally that preceded the deadly U.S. Capitol riot in January 2021.
Paxton's loyalty was rewarded with an endorsement from Trump in the 2022 primary, which helped the attorney general fend off three prominent GOP challengers.
Trump also came to Paxton's defense when he was impeached last year for allegedly accepting bribes and abusing the power of his office to help a wealthy friend and campaign donor. After Paxton was acquitted in the Texas Senate, Trump claimed credit, citing his “intervention” on his Truth Social platform, where he denounced the proceedings and threatened political retribution for Republicans who backed the impeachment.
“I fought for him when he had the difficulty and we won,” he told KDFW. “He had some people really after him, and I thought it was really unfair.”
Trump's latest comments, delivered at the National Rifle Association's annual convention in Dallas, come after a series of recent polls have shown the presumptive Republican nominee leading President Joe Biden in a handful of key battleground states.
Paxton has also seen his political prospects rise in recent months, after prosecutors agreed in March to drop three felony counts of securities fraud that had loomed over Paxton for nearly his entire tenure as attorney general. The resolution of the nine-year-old case, along with Paxton's impeachment acquittal in the Senate last fall, has brought him closer than ever to a political career devoid of legal drama.
Still, Paxton's critics say he is far from vindicated. He remains under federal investigation for the same allegations that formed the basis of his impeachment, and he continues to face a whistleblower lawsuit from former deputies who said they were illegally fired for reporting Paxton to law enforcement. A separate lawsuit from the state bar seeks to penalize Paxton for his 2020 election challenge, which relied on discredited claims of election fraud.
If nominated, Paxton would need to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The chamber is narrowly divided along party lines, with Democrats holding a 51-49 majority. One of the most prominent Republican members, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, has been an outspoken critic of Paxton, while Paxton has openly entertained the idea of challenging Cornyn in 2026.
Paxton is not the only Texan Trump has floated for a high-profile spot in his potential administration. In February, he said Gov. Greg Abbott is “absolutely” on his short list of potential vice presidential candidates. Abbott has since downplayed his interest in the job.
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Texas Tribune
These Texans aren’t taking buyouts despite repeated floods
by By Emily Foxhall, The Texas Tribune – 2024-05-20 05:00:00
SUMMARY: Recent floods in Harris County, Texas, have devastated homes along the San Jacinto River. Tom Madigan, who owns multiple properties, quickly started repairs without knowing the Harris County Flood Control District aims to buy out such flood-prone properties. The region has a longstanding buyout program to remove homes from high-risk flood areas, with about 800 out of 2,400 targeted properties purchased. However, buyouts are voluntary and often insufficient for low-income residents. Despite the program, many choose to stay due to affordability and community ties, while others like Madigan remain skeptical of receiving a fair offer.
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HARRIS COUNTY — After the floodwaters earlier this month just about swallowed two of the six homes that 60-year-old Tom Madigan owns on the San Jacinto River, he didn't think twice about whether to fix them. He hired people to help, and they got to work stripping the walls, pulling up flooring and throwing out water-logged furniture.
What Madigan didn't know: The Harris County Flood Control District wants to buy his properties as part of an effort to get people out of dangerously flood-prone areas.
Back-to-back storms drenched southeast Texas in late April and early May, causing flash flooding and pushing rivers out of their banks and into low-lying neighborhoods. Officials across the region urged people in vulnerable areas to evacuate.
Like Madigan's, some places that were inundated along the San Jacinto in Harris County have flooded repeatedly. And for nearly 30 years, the flood control district has been trying to clear out homes around the river by paying property owners to move, then returning the lots to nature.
The recent floods show why buyout programs can be important. These spots typically flood first and worse. Gov. Greg Abbott reported that hundreds of rescues took place in the state while the floods destroyed homes. A man drowned and a child was swept away into the floods. One Harris County resident described climbing on top of his motor home as the water rose before first responders rescued him.
But the disaster and its aftermath also illustrate why buyouts are complicated to carry out even in Harris County, home to Houston, which has one of the most robust buyout programs in the country. The flood control district has identified roughly 2,400 properties as current buyout candidates around the San Jacinto; the district and county have bought about 800 of them.
Nearly all of the district's buyouts are voluntary. If an owner doesn't want to sell, the district can't force them out.
Buyouts make sense for some people who can't be protected from floods, said Alessandra Jerolleman, director of research for the Center on Environment, Land and Law at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law.
But buyouts might not provide lower-income people enough money to get somewhere safer, she said, and they could lose important support like child care from nearby family or neighbors.
“It's not as though it's a guarantee of reducing risks to that family,” Jerolleman said.
People who live near the river and who have endured repeated floods explained that they've stayed because it's affordable and, most of the time, peaceful. Where else would they be able to buy anything like it? Some said they didn't think the government would offer them what they consider a fair price to sell their land. Some didn't know the buyout program existed.
Madigan started buying homes more than 15 years ago in the unincorporated River Terrace neighborhood because they were cheap. On Tuesday, the Houston firefighter drank a Heineken and grilled hamburgers for his work crew outside his most damaged house, which he rents to his brother. Sodden rugs baked in the sun on the driveway.
Madigan said he might have taken a buyout if it was a reasonable offer — but he doubted it would be. He said he needed to get the properties ready again for his renters. “I can't wait,” he said.
Two blocks away, water had swept through a yellow house Madigan rents to a family with a teenage son. One of the workers fixing the property, 21-year-old Omar Reyna, watched the family throw out pretty much everything they had. Piecing together new laminate flooring with his dad, Reyna kept thinking about a trash bag of Teddy bears and stuffed toys he tossed out for them.
He wondered if the parents had been saving the toys for another kid they might have in the future.
“The faster we get it done, the faster they can come back in here,” Reyna said.
Some people choose to live with the risk of flooding
The San Jacinto is the largest river in the state's most populous county. For years before Harris County's first floodplain maps were drawn up in the mid-1980s, people built homes near its banks. Even today, people can still build in the vast floodplain if the houses are high enough and have enough stormwater detention.
The flood control district tries to buy out homes in pockets of the floodplain that are deepest, said James Wade, manager for the district's property acquisition department. Those are places where engineers can't easily fix flooding problems.
Buyouts are meant to get people out of flood zones before their property floods again, not to help in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. The process is slow: In some cases, it can take 18 months or longer to approve a buyout application, Wade said. The district pays owners the market value or pre-flood value for their house, determined by a third-party appraiser, plus moving expenses and a supplement to help them get into a house out of the floodplain, Wade said.
“It's a very equitable, fair program,” Wade said — but still some people don't want to leave.
Those who stay learn to adapt. They build homes on stilts. They monitor the river level and watch for releases of water from the Lake Conroe dam upstream. Some know intimately the routine of rebuilding: gut the house, clean it, put it back together.
The floor of 49-year-old Sean Vincent's house in the Forest Cove neighborhood in northeast Houston is 15 feet above the ground. Three feet of water flooded it when Hurricane Harvey hit in 2017. This month, the floods reached five feet high on Vincent's property. He cleaned out his waterlogged ground-level shed with help from church members. On Tuesday, he was building new shelves for it.
But most of the time Vincent, who works in railroad traffic control, said he enjoys the space surrounded by tall trees with room for his three kids.
“It's just really not a major part of our life,” Vincent said of the flooding. “Yes, it's inconvenient. Yes, it's now happened to us twice in seven years … It's sort of a trade-off for us. And it is lovely out here.”
“Where are you going to go?”
Then there are those who stay because they don't see anywhere else to go.
Jack St. John, 67, a retired long-haul truck driver, moved to Northshore 43 years ago and has had to clean up after two floods. He worries any time flooding threatens, but the neighborhood's advantages keep him there: He has no water bill because he has a well. His taxes are reasonable. The neighborhood has a fish fry in the spring and a barbecue in the fall.
“You know, when you leave, where are you going to go?” he said. “What's it going to cost to buy into another place?”
Farther northeast, in the Idle Wild and Idle Glen neighborhoods, the floods forced some residents to sleep under tarps. On one largely forested street, boats were turned sideways or flipped upside down. A small building was lodged in the trees. A car was in the ditch.
For several years, Elvia Bethea, 68, has driven from her home in Humble to check on people and pets here, and pick up stray animals. On Tuesday, she and other volunteers gave John Gray, 50, bamboo yard torches to fight the many mosquitoes, plus two trays of chocolate-covered strawberries.
Gray said he couldn't afford to fix up his destroyed house. He earns a living printing labor law posters for businesses. His printers at home were destroyed.
Gray said he had never heard of the buyout program but would consider taking one.
“Who do I call?” Gray asked. “I don't have a clue.”
From the back of a white SUV, Bethea handed some hot dogs to Jose Tabores, 68, who lives on Gray's land in a trailer now filled with mud.
“I'm coming for dinner, remember!” Bethea teased him.
Nearby, 51-year-old Veronika Scheid had been sleeping in a wet tent. The flood washed the shipping crate she lived in down the road and into the trees — along with her and her neighbors' belongings.
At a low point, when Scheid was crying over all she lost, she found a pink-and-white beaded necklace with stitching in the shape of a “V,” like her name. At the end was a charm shaped like a house.
She was grateful the person who owned the land where she stayed hadn't taken a buyout. Otherwise she would have nowhere to go.
“At least we have this,” Scheid said.
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The post These Texans aren't taking buyouts despite repeated floods appeared first on TexasTribune.org.
The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
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