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AUSTIN – The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports the future of the Texas hemp industry is on the line as state lawmakers consider sweeping bills that would tightly regulate or outright ban THC products. Senate Bill 3 would wipe out all hemp-derived products — from gummies, vapes and flower buds to THC-infused beverages — that currently grace the shelves of more than 8,000 Texas stores. Under current law, hemp products with less than 0.3% THC are legal; however, SB 3 would erase that important distinction. The Senate passed the bill with a 24-7 vote on March 19, and it now moves to the House, where a more moderate proposal — House Bill 28 — calls for tighter regulations instead of an outright ban.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said the ban is his top priority during this legislative session. Patrick has taken a hard line on the issue, contending that THC products pose a significant risk to public health, particularly for children. “This is a poison in our public, and we as the Legislature, our number one responsibility is life and death issues,” Patrick declared at a recent press conference. He contends that misleading packaging and dangerously high THC levels — claims of some products containing “several times more THC content than marijuana purchased from a drug dealer off the street” — endanger Texans. Patrick’s resolve extends to THC-infused beverages, which he insists should not be exempt from the ban. State Sen. Charles Perry, a Republican from Lubbock, introduced Senate Bill 3. “I named SB 3 a major legislative initiative of mine because I will not allow retailers to circumvent the law and put Texans’, and especially children’s, lives in danger,” he said in a press release. He has also warned hemp retailers, advising them to consider closing their doors voluntarily as investigations and potential lawsuits loom. “You might want to voluntarily close your doors because the investigations are going to continue, and I’m sure the lawsuits are about to come. You know what you’re doing.” Patrick sai

DALLAS – The Dallas Morning News reports that Coppell ISD officials want Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawsuit against the district thrown out saying it is “political fodder” against public schools based on a manipulated hidden-video recording, according to court filings. Officials allege in their counterclaim filed Tuesday that efforts to discredit Coppell and other public schools’ educators are being made to influence debates over school choice. “Why? To provide the Attorney General with political fodder against public school districts such as CISD during the current debate and upcoming votes in the Texas Legislature about private school vouchers and public school funding,” the filing read. “This is an improper purpose.” Coppell ISD officials said they could not comment on pending litigation when reached Friday.

In a recent message to parents and staff, Superintendent Brad Hunt addressed the suit and wrote the district is “committed to providing a high-quality education that follows the state curriculum.” The attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. In March, Paxton accused Coppell school officials of breaking state law by teaching students critical race theory and pushing “woke ideology.” The attorney general’s office referred to a hidden camera recording filmed by a group called Accuracy in Media that appeared to show a Coppell ISD administrator evading the state’s “prohibitions on the use of CRT in state policies and curricula,” according to a statement from his office announcing the suit. Critical race theory is a framework that explores how policies and laws uphold systemic racism. It was largely debated in academia. In recent years, many conservatives conflated it with work aimed at making schools more equitable for students. In 2021, Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law to eliminate critical race theory from schools.

DALLAS – The Dallas Morning News reports In front of a modest crowd last week at Dallas’ Temple Shalom, Dallas County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins and former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred urged Democratic voters to stay in the fight. Along with lamenting the policies of President Donald Trump, some in the audience wondered whether the duo would help lead the fight by being candidates in the 2026 midterm elections. It was the first question Allred received at the event, billed as a town hall meeting for congressional District 24, which is represented by Republican Rep. Beth Van Duyne of Irving. The meeting was sponsored by the Park Cities Area Democrats and Indivisible Dallas. Allred acknowledged he was considering another run for Senate, but tried to get the crowd to stay in the political moment.

“For some of us, we have the time and space and the capability to be able to say more and do more,” Allred said during the town hall meeting last Wednesday. “I’m asking everyone to do everything you can, not for the election in a year and a half … we have to start speaking up right now.” The mood of the audience represented not only exasperation over the Trump presidency, but also over a leadership void in the Democratic party. With the 2026 elections looming, few big name Democrats have stepped up to run for statewide or federal office. The March primaries are less than a year away, and Democrats hope the political environment could offer opportunities for them. But they need quality candidates to take advantage. Allred, who last year lost a Senate race to Republican incumbent Ted Cruz, told The Dallas Morning News last month he’s “seriously considering” running for the seat held by longtime GOP Sen. John Cornyn. Although some Democrats wonder whether Allred’s loss to Cruz is a deal breaker for 2026, he doesn’t think so.

TEXAS – The nation’s average price of gasoline has risen for the third straight week, increasing 10.6 cents compared to a week ago and stands at $3.21 per gallon, according to GasBuddy® data compiled from more than 12 million individual price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country. The national average is up 13.2 cents from a month ago and is 35.6 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has increased 3.6 cents in the last week and stands at $3.594 per gallon.

“While the national average price of gasoline saw its largest weekly gain of the year, it likely won’t last long, as oil prices have plummeted amid growing concerns about the global economy following the U.S. announcement of some of the most significant tariffs in over a century, along with OPEC+ restoring oil production faster than anticipated,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “In addition to falling oil prices, the stock market has dropped sharply, and the risk of a recession has increased — raising the likelihood of reduced global energy and oil demand, which is sending prices lower. As a result, motorists can expect gas prices to begin falling nearly coast-to-coast, with oil now at its lowest level since the early days of the pandemic in 2021. If tariffs aren’t scaled back soon, the national average could fall below $3 per gallon in the weeks ahead, with no clear indication of how long it might stay there as market volatility persists.”

DALLAS — Texas lawmakers could imperil the future of public transportation in two of the state’s largest urban areas, transit officials and advocates warn.

Republican legislators are entertaining proposals to sap hundreds of millions of dollars from Dallas Area Rapid Transit, the state’s largest public transit system, and thwart the voter-approved expansion of public transportation in Austin known as Project Connect.

Texas Republicans have long been wary of investing in public transit, given the state’s cultural ties to oil and gas and automobiles — and have long pursued ways to undercut the state’s urban areas. In the case of Project Connect, lawmakers see state intervention, at least in part, as a way to rein in high property taxes.

Here’s what the proposed legislation would do.

North Texas legislators want to reroute 25% of the sales tax revenue collected by DART, which serves Dallas and 12 neighboring cities, toward a “general mobility program.” Those cities could then draw upon those funds to pay for projects like building sidewalks and roads and installing traffic signals.

Transit agency officials say such a move would be catastrophic, costing DART more than $234 million in the upcoming fiscal year. That loss would spur deep service cuts and layoffs. More than 125,000 people would completely lose access to bus and light rail service, the agency projects, including vulnerable residents like seniors and lower-income families. With decreased service, the agency would collect less in rider fares and lose federal funds, further compounding budgetary problems and creating a downward spiral.

“I think this is the end of DART if we do it,” board chair Gary Slagel said at a recent DART meeting discussing the legislation. “I don’t know how we survive if we do this.”

Some cities have sought to reduce how much in sales tax revenue they pay into the transit agency, complaining that they don’t benefit in proportion to how much they contribute. Plano, for example, contributed $109 million in sales tax revenue to the system in 2023, but received about $44 million worth of investment, according to a survey conducted by EY, a consulting firm. DART officials have said the EY survey doesn’t capture the full financial benefit transit service brings to member cities. The disparity has undergirded those cities’ push to establish the mobility program, which proponents said is modeled on a similar program in Houston.

“Plano is not looking to leave DART,” said Andrew Fortune, Plano’s director of policy and government relations. “We are interested in a transit system that is going to work not only for our residents, but also the visitors and the employees who come to our city. Our hope is that this bill will not only protect against inequities like what we’ve experienced, but it will help us make a better transit solution and ultimately help those who need to move from place to place in Plano and to connect to the region as a whole.”

In an attempt to appease those cities’ concerns and convince them to stop pursuing the legislation, the DART board voted in March to create its own general mobility program — though using 5% of its sales tax revenue, not 25%. Such a plan would still prompt service reductions and budget cuts, though not as deep as those prompted by the legislation.

Regional transportation planners warn cutting DART’s funding so drastically will hamper mobility across the entire Dallas-Fort Worth region, worsen air quality and throw a wrench in public transit plans for next year’s FIFA World Cup, when the region will host nine matches. The Trinity Railway Express, a commuter rail line that runs between Dallas and Fort Worth, plays a central role in the region’s plans to ferry soccer fans to and from matches at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. DART projects a 25% cut in its sales tax revenue would wipe out its ability to fund the rail line. Officials with Trinity Metro, the Fort Worth area’s transit agency which co-owns and -operates the line, have said they would not be able to pick up the cost.

“This could not be occurring at a worse time,” said Michael Morris, transportation director for the North Central Texas Council of Governments.

Lawmakers once more have taken aim at how Austin plans to pay for Project Connect, a multibillion-dollar public transit plan that includes an expansion of the city’s light-rail network.

Austin voters in 2020 approved a hike in city property taxes to pay for the plan and create the Austin Transit Partnership, a local government corporation set up to build the light-rail extension. Under the plan, the partnership receives city property tax revenue to help secure loans needed to fund construction.

Texas Republicans have taken issue with that funding mechanism and resurrected legislative efforts to kill it at the state level. The funds are generated from the portion of Austin’s property tax rate that funds maintenance and operations, or “M&O.” Attorney General Ken Paxton has argued that those dollars can’t be used to pay for debt and has contested the mechanism in court.

A pair of bills authored by state Rep. Ellen Troxclair, a Lakeway Republican and former Austin City Council member, and state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican, would enshrine that argument in state law.

The legislation would effectively get rid of Project Connect’s funding plan by outlawing the mechanism approved by voters. Taxpayers could also sue to stop the city from collecting property taxes used to fund the project if a court finds the project now “materially deviates” from how it was initially pitched — a nod to how planners, owing to inflation and other factors, reduced the project’s scope in the years after voters first approved it.

“We don’t mix M&O tax revenues with debt, and we don’t allow them to be mixed through a third party,” Bettencourt said earlier this year. “That’s not how things work. Taxpayers deserve transparency and that’s not transparency.”

Austin transit officials have defended the project and argued that the funding mechanism is legal.

“Austin voters overwhelmingly approved this transformative project that will reduce travel times, spur the development of much-needed housing, and generate jobs and state-wide economic benefits,” Greg Canally, Austin Transit Partnership CEO, said in a statement. “The need for more local investment in our transportation infrastructure will only increase as our state and community continue to grow.”

Article originally published by The Texas Tribune. To read the originally published article, click here.