Acting Governor Dan Patrick issued this statement today following his press conference with TDEM Chief Nim Kidd: “As Hurricane Beryl passes through Texas, the state’s efforts have switched from preparedness to response, and in some areas are quickly moving into recovery. Texas has assets deployed throughout the Coastal Bend, the Houston area, and Deep East Texas, and they will work diligently to assist their fellow Texans.

The agency has launched State Tracking and Reporting (LoneSTAR), a project that further improves efficiencies at the agency to save time and resources for oil and gas operators as well as RRC staff. The first LoneSTAR release allows operators to make online filings for Form P-5, which are required to become, or renew as, an oil or gas operator or pipeline operator. P-5s are required in order to operate in Texas.

The House Appropriations Committee has included crucial funding for our beloved Southeast Texas in the fiscal year 2025 (FY25) Appropriations bills. While these projects have been approved by the full committee, we're still awaiting the final passage by the full House of Representatives. Here's a sneak peek at what’s in store for us.

Acting Governor Dan Patrick urged Texans to make final preparations and announced that he has added 81 counties to the state’s Hurricane Beryl Disaster Declaration as storm forecasts have shifted the expected landfall north and east of previous projections. This brings the total number of Texas counties included in the state’s disaster declaration to 121 counties. Upon updating the disaster declaration, Acting Governor Patrick issued the following statement

Governor Abbott and President Lai explored opportunities for Texas and Taiwan to work together to strengthen trade relations and investment in critical economic drivers like the semiconductor, energy, and electric vehicle manufacturing industries. The Governor also highlighted the countless economic opportunities Texas offers companies from across the globe, including a highly skilled workforce, low taxes, and the best business climate in the United States.

The use and production of natural gas has resulted in billions of dollars being available to fund schools, road and other basic needs, is the dominant reason for declining CO2 emissions in the power sector and is one of the most affordable energy sources available.  Every family has benefited from a robust natural gas sector and LNG exports play an ever-growing role in a stronger Texas and America."

In February 2023, the Department of Defense issued a memorandum prohibiting uniformed Service Members from participating in the unfurling of large flags at sporting events because those flags are often unfurled and displayed horizontally. The U.S. Flag Code prohibits carrying the American flag horizontally. Sen. Ted Cruz's "Updating National Flag Use to Reaffirm Liberty" (UNFURL) Act would amend the U.S. Flag Code and rescind the DOD's policy at sporting events & patriotic observances.

In recent testimony before the Senate Business and Commerce committee, ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas testified that Texas may need 150,000 megawatts of power to power our grid by 2030. That is only six years away. Currently, Texas typically has approximately 85,000 megawatts of power available counting wind, solar, coal, nuclear, and natural gas. If the new estimate is correct, the updated numbers provided by Mr. Vegas call for an immediate review of all policies concerning the grid.

Congressman Tony Gonzales (TX-23) voted for the final passage of three Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Appropriations bills in the U.S. House of Representatives. Congressman Gonzales is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and helped craft H.R. 8774, the Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2025, H.R. 8752, the Homeland Security Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2025, and H.R. 8771, the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2025. 

American families are fed up with the Biden Administration’s consistent refusals to address the crisis at our southern border and the risks it poses to our national security. Thankfully, House Republicans are taking action. We passed legislation that counters President Biden’s border crisis by providing $600 million for the construction of the border wall, investing in border security technology, forcing Secretary Mayorkas to adhere to U.S. border laws, and supporting 22,000 Border Patrol agents.

At a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, following his universally criticized debate performance, President Biden attempted to draw a distinction between himself and Donald Trump: " I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong." Knowing right from wrong presumes a standard that is universal, not personal. Try arguing with the supermarket cashier that the price for the pound of meat you are trying to buy is not what is written on the label but what you think it should be.

“The Supreme Court did the right thing in returning decision making to elected members of Congress – the way the Constitution envisioned it and ending a massive expansion of the regulatory state,” said Sen. Ted Cruz following the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of the so-called Chevron Case precedent set in 1984 that allowed unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats to wield power and interpret or set regulations that acted as law, shifting decision making from Congress to the permanent bureaucracy.

The President therefore may not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers, and he is entitled, at a minimum, to a presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts. That immunity applies equally to all occupants of the Oval Office, regardless of politics, policy, or party," the opinion states. 

“Protecting our citizens, defending our freedom, and providing for the nation's common defense is the first and most important job of the federal government – but unfortunately, President Biden’s self-inflicted open-border crisis has brought our nation’s most imminent threat right to our doorstep,” said Lubbock Congressman & House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, as the U.S. House of Representatives passed three major Appropriations Bills to ensure our nation's troops have the resources & supplies needed.

If Texas were a country, it'd now be the 8th-Largest Economy in the world, ahead of Canada and Russia. “The saying ‘I wasn’t born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could’ is truer than you might think – especially when it comes to business and job creation,” said Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar, as he released the latest examination of 10 statistics illustrating how Texas' continuing trend of strong economic and population growth confirmed what we’ve always known. Only a decade ago, Texas was the world's 12th-largest economy.

Area Development’s annual Shovel Awards recognize states for their achievements in attracting high-value investment projects that will create a significant number of new jobs in their communities. The rankings are based on a combination of weighted factors, including the number of new jobs to be created in relation to the state’s population, the combined dollar amount of the company investments, the number of new facilities, and the diversity of industry represented.

“This investigation appears to bear the markings of a politically-driven prosecution, which has unfortunately been the stock-in-trade of the present Department of Justice. This severe punishment starkly contrasts with the virtual impunity enjoyed by criminals who have fire-bombed Pregnancy Resource Centers and vandalized 100s of churches in the wake of the Dobbs decision," said Sen. Ted Cruz, requesting information relevant to a Texas hospital’s gender transition procedures being performed on children.

Today nonpartisan Save Austin Now PAC is celebrating a U.S. Supreme Court ruling (6-3) that cities holds that have a right to enforce camping bans through an Oregon case, giving new momentum to Prop B, the camping ban which was reinstated in May 2021 by a 58%-42% vote after Save Austin Now spent two years putting the ordinance on the ballot and passing it.

“Today our nation’s most imminent threat is self-inflicted – President Biden’s wide-open southern border," said Texas Congressman and House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (TX-19,) as he announced he would be introducing a series of amendments to prohibit President Joe Biden and his administration from utilizing a crucial set of government funding bills to advance his far-Left agenda – and fight back against Mr. Biden’s open border policies. The bills could be voted on this week.

“Every light is blinking red. We cannot continue to put border security on the back burner – we know for a fact that dangerous Cartels & Gangs have used our broken borders as a means to enter the United States. Now, we have confirmation that terrorist-related networks are using similar tactics to smuggle people into our country,” said Cong. Tony Gonzales – who represents Texas' 23rd Congressional District spanning 823 miles along the South Texas-Mexico Border. "American lives are at stake!"