Eye on Politics: Federal spending fights loom this fall – CBS News

NORTH TEXAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) – Protesters demonstrate over a new law that impacts the team transgender college athletes can play on. Members of Congress from North Texas express concern over passing a budget in time to prevent a federal government shutdown. Plus, a report published this week says a federal grand jury is looking into ties between impeached Attorney General Ken Paxton and an Austin developer less than a month before his trial in the Senate.

Jack Fink dives into these stories in this week’s edition of Eye on Politics (original air date: Aug. 10).

Every week, CBS News Texas political reporter Jack Fink breaks down some of the biggest political stories grabbing headlines in North Texas and beyond. Watch the latest episode of Eye on Politics in the video player above and stream new episodes live every Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m. on CBS News Texas. 

Report: Federal grand jury meeting about impeached AG Paxton

A published report says a federal grand jury in San Antonio is meeting to look into ties between impeached Attorney General Ken Paxton and an Austin developer.

The Austin American-Statesman cites two sources with knowledge of the case, and its report comes less than one month before the impeachment trial is set to begin on Sept. 5.

The Statesman says the grand jury is calling witnesses close to Paxton, who remains suspended without pay after being impeached by the Texas House in late May. 

According to the report, the grand jury is looking at the relationship between Paxton and Austin developer Nate Paul, who was indicted by the feds in a separate case.

Paul is mentioned in the articles of impeachment against Paxton, who’s accused of abusing his power as attorney general to benefit himself and Paul.

Paxton’s attorney, Dan Cogdell, told CBS News Texas Thursday that he was not notified about the grand jury and said Paxton has not received a target letter from the federal government.

Watch Jack’s full report on this update below.

Protesters over signing of Save Women’s Sports Act

Gov. Greg Abbott was in North Texas this week, to sign a legislation into law that requires athletes at public colleges and universities to compete on teams that correspond with the sex they were assigned at birth.

The bill signing took place at Denton’s Texas Woman’s University. Outside of the event, dozens of protesters demonstrated against the new law. 

“I think he needs to realize trans people are people, trans-Texans are Texans, and his legislation is supposed to protect Texans. But he’s not protecting trans people, he’s hurting trans people,” said one student named Eliot.  

Inside, at the Texas Woman’s Hall of Fame, two former college swimmers Paula Scanlon and Riley Gaines joined lawmakers and athletes as Gov. Abbott signed the Save Women’s Sports Act.

Gaines, an NCAA all-American at the University of Kentucky, said when she competed last year against Lia Thomas, a transgender woman at the University of Pennsylvania, they tied—but only Thomas received a trophy.

She said it was unfair to her and other women. 

“When Governor Abbott signed the Save the Women’s Sports Act this summer, he sent a message to approximately 15 million Texan women that they will be treated fairly on the playing fields, in the sports arenas, and inside the locker rooms,” Gaines said.

Protesters said many people in the LGBTQ community feel as if Republicans at the Capitol have been targeting their community.

Watch the full story below.

Concern over potential government shutdown

Some members of Congress from North Texas are sounding the alarm that a spending fight in the U.S. House may delay the approval of a new budget, or even lead to a government shutdown. 

The comments were made during a Congressional Forum presented by the Dallas Regional Chamber Tuesday. Jack served as a moderator.

The new budget year begins October 1, and there’s not a lot of optimism a spending plan will be passed in time to avoid a government shutdown.

Here’s what the four members of Congress Jack interviewed had to say:

U.S. Rep. Keith Self, (R) McKinney

“Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we are not going to pass 11 bills, have the Senate pass their 12 bills, get a conference done and get it back to the two houses and pass the final bill by September 30.”  

U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, (D) Richardson 

“Hopefully, we can avoid it, but I’ll agree with my colleague, Congressman Self, I’m worried about where we are going. I’ll do what I can to avoid it but we’re not on a good path.” 

U.S. Rep. Beth Van Duyne, (R) Addison 

“When we come back, do we want to have a government shutdown? Absolutely not. Are we going to have appropriations bills more reflective of pre-pandemic levels as opposed to normalizing the additional money that we spent in an emergency situation? If that is the case, you’ve already seen Republicans are willing to vote for that bill and I think it will pass.” 

U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, (D) Fort Worth

“I’m very worried about a shut down … I don’t how from this point on until January 3, 2025, we’re not going to be able to avoid these showdowns that you watch on cable news.”

One-on-one with Rep. Roger Williams

This week Jack spoke one-on-one with Republican North Texas Congressman Roger Williams, Chair of the Small Business Committee, to talk about extending tax cuts for small businesses. 

Watch their full conversation below.

Other political headlines

Here’s a look at some of the other big political headlines Jack covers in this week’s episode:

• Another bill signing that took longer to achieve than most people thought: The $18 billion property tax relief law.
• Fifteen thousand people attended a job fair at the Irving Convention Center. About 375 employers offered a total of 15,000 jobs.
• A state judge ruled that there can be temporary exceptions to the abortion ban in Texas. The ruling came as part of a lawsuit filed by women who suffered from complicated pregnancies and whose doctors wouldn’t perform abortions because of the state’s ban.
• Representatives Keith Self, Colin Allred, Beth Van Duyne and Marc Veasey break down how they would solve inflation.