Progress Texas Podcasts

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Day 1 of the special session saw a full court press on redistricting - no movement on flood relief, or any other issue: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/21/us/politics/texas-redistricting-floods.html ...Rigging maps to win elections is tantamount to totalitarianism - "democracy thrives or dies on how we draw political districts":...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The scene on the opening day off what could be a contentious and historic special legislation: a massive menu of MAGA red meat, with only 30 days for Republicans to grind it out: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/21/texas-legislature-special-session-floods-redistricting-thc/ ...Of course, if they don't make that deadline, Governor Abbott c...

As we hit another Friday in the wild wild West of Texas politics, we do so with a wary eye towards Monday - the day that a special legislative session called by Governor Greg Abbott begins. A session originally to handle Dan's Ban, then to address the obvious need for flood emergency apparatus in our river basins, then to a giant pile of MAGA red meat - including a Donald Trump-ordered carving of...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Will the special session, partly dedicated to a Trump-ordered mid-decade redistricting start on Monday, or will Democrats walk out? The history of Democratic quorum breaks in Texas is interesting, including in the summer of 2021: https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07/14/texas-democrats-walkout-quorum/#:~:text=On%20July%2012%2C%20Texas%20Ho...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Desperate measures may be called for to opposed mid-decade GOP redistricting, but breaking quorum now comes with stiff financial penalties: https://woai.iheart.com/featured/san-antonios-first-news/content/2025-07-16-will-texas-democrats-attempt-to-break-quorum-during-the-special-session/ ...Supreme Court Justice John Roberts is a central...

Former Galveston mayor, Houston-area attorney and longtime progressive activist Joe Jaworski joins us to announce his run for Texas Attorney General in 2026! Learn more about Joe's campaign at https://www.jaworskifortexas.com/. Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Drama building for the special session, as Democrats consider breaking quorum to block a Trump-ordered redistricting scheme - including : https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/us/politics/texas-redistricting-trump.html ...Ken Paxton is threatening to "hunt down" any Democrats fleeing the session, while the plan itself could result...

Progressives across Texas are taking note of the recent return of former Tarrant County Democratic Party Chair Allison Campolo to that important post. As the political tides turn across the nation, a flip in Tarrant County would likely be a harbinger of even more widespread and long-overdue change across the Lone Star State, so having an experienced progressive fighter (and actual Kung Fu champion...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Flood recovery efforts have resumed amidst great uncertainty about how long it will take, or whether it's possible, to recover the rest of the estimated 100 who remain missing: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/14/texas-flood-missing-update/ Food banks in Austin, San Antonio and elsewhere, at a moment when their services will be in...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The July 4 flood death toll rose to 132 as new flooding stopped recovery efforts on Sunday: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/texas-flooding-map-lampasas-river-trump-fema-death-toll-latest-b2788441.html Families of victims who are still missing are beginning to come to terms that Governor Abbott's pledge to recover all...

In this episode of the Progress Texas Happy Hour, we’re honored to welcome Michael Wilmore-Crumrine, President of the Lesbian & Gay Peace Officers Association – Austin (LGPOA-Austin). Under Michael’s leadership, LGPOA-Austin is preparing to host the 2025 World LGBTQI+ Conference for Criminal Justice Professionals — marking the first time this international gathering will take place in the Unit...

This week's blowing off of the collective steam is especially cathartic, having come at the end of a week in which we watched the horrible situation in Central Texas get worse, and worse...and worse. State Senator Angela Paxton dumps her cheating husband at long last, Colin Allred appears to be playing the same old playbook, and yet another massive tragedy strikes Texas, complete with the loss of...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: A full week after the fact, Donald Trump is visiting Texas today to observe the flood damage in Kerr County: https://apnews.com/article/trump-texas-floods-fema-phase-out-b77d9681d2d39f8c201351b54ecf944f ...The Kerr County Sheriff's Department took a full 90 minutes to relay a flood warning called in by a firefighter in Ingram as the f...

Difficult conversations should take place in all regions of a diverse state like Texas, especially after 30-plus years of one party rule. Beyond placing blame on rural regions or certain sects of historically Democratic voters, we should first take a deep look inwards and be ready to listen to those different from ourselves.  Last month, over a hundred Democratic county party chairs, rural organiz...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The death toll of the July 4 flood disaster has risen to 120, but is still exceeded by the number of missing, which remains over 150: https://www.cnn.com/weather/live-news/texas-flooding-camp-mystic-07-10-25 ...New policies imposed upon FEMA by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem appear to have created a 72-hour delay in the agency&#3...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The number of missing people in the July 4 floods has jumped dramatically, from about 40 yesterday to 173: https://abcnews.go.com/US/live-updates/texas-flooding-updates-13-dead-20-campers-unaccounted/?id=123488468 ...A team of firefighters and responders from Mexico have traveled north to join the search and recovery effort: https://www.t...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Day five of the recovery effort in Kerr County begins as the July 4 floods become the deadliest rain-related flood in the U.S. in almost 50 years: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/texas-flooding-camp-mystic-map-death-toll-victims-latest-news-b2784433.html Local officials in Kerrville have continued to deflect questions ab...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The latest on the July 4th floods in Kerr County and across Central Texas, where the death toll has surpassed 80 and over 40 remain missing: https://abcnews.go.com/US/live-updates/texas-flooding-updates-13-dead-20-campers-unaccounted/?id=123488468 ...County and state leaders immediatly attempted to shift blame to weather forecasters - did...

Last weekend, Progress Texas Digital Associate Haley Smith visited the welcome social for the Texas Young Democrats and Texas College Democrats Joint Convention in downtown Austin to talk with young, passionate leaders from across the state. Tune in for candid conversations, a pulse check on the grassroots movement, and inspiration from the young people leading the charge toward a more just and in...

The news moves fast, y'all - between the time we recorded this on Thursday afternoon and posting time a couple of hours later, the U.S. House has passed what we've come to correctly call Donald Trump's Big Bullshit Bill - a truly historic heist of working class America for the richest in our country. As the elections of 2026 approach, it will be all-important not to let our fellow Texa...

For a time that isn’t typical, we’re not bringing you the typical talking points. German Ibanez has 40 plus years of experience in clean energy. From developing green solutions for municipalities to multinational companies, we like to list him as a consultant on the good side of the revolving door. Either way you look at it, he has boundless knowledge surrounding ERCOT, energy regulation and inves...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The U.S. House appears preparing to vote on Donald Trump's Big Bullshit Bill: https://apnews.com/live/donald-trump-news-updates-7-3-2025 ...As of last night, Austin Democratic Congressman Lloyd Doggett was holding out hope that the bill could be stopped: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/doggett-holding-out-hope-that-trumps-one-big-bea...

As part of our larger “Progress Texas Summer Vacation" series, we reviewed the threats to our national parks with Cristóbal López, the National Parks Conservation Association’s Texas Field Representative. Our talk ranges from exacerbated staff shortages, to how Trump’s budget bill could create the largest public lands sale in modern history - so billionaires can cut you out of “America’s best idea...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Trump's Big Bullshit Bill, passed by the Senate, now heads for the House, where part of the opposition is Texas Congressman Chip Roy - whose concerns about impacts to the national debt will likely lead to even deeper cuts for vulnerable Americans: https://www.tpr.org/government-politics/2025-07-02/why-texas-rep-chip-roy-broke-with-trump-on-th...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Texas Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, naturally, are all in for Donald Trump's deeply unpopular Big Bullshit Bill: https://apnews.com/live/donald-trump-news-updates-7-1-2025 ...It will have massive effects in Texas, both for SNAP recipients and the 15% of Texans who rely on Medicaid: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/how-cou...