Parents, children separated at border gain widespread attention

AUSTIN — Although border-crossing issues are largely federal matters, the Lone Star State has been a center of news reports about authorities separating children from their parents at detention centers along the Rio Grande.

President Trump on June 20 ordered a cease in the forced separation of family members who are in detention, but the fate of more than 2,000 minors who were taken away from their parents remained unresolved.

Senate panel conducts hearings on school violence, safety
AUSTIN — A panel of Texas Senate members on June 11 and 12 received input about ways to improve security on public school campuses.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who presides over the Senate, formed the legislative body’s Select Committee on Violence in Schools and School Safety following the May shooting at Santa Fe High School in which a student shot and killed 10 people and injured 10 others.

Top officials join in briefing about hurricane preparedness
AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott on June 6 joined President Donald Trump, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, FEMA Administrator Brock Long, White House cabinet members and governors from across the country for a video teleconference briefing on hurricane preparedness. 

Governor offers safety plan designed to prevent shootings at schools
AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott on May 30 joined state and local leaders in Dallas and San Marcos to unveil his School and Firearm Safety Action Plan. 
The governor’s plan came 12 days after the Santa Fe High School shooting in which 10 people were killed and 10 people were injured. It contains 40 recommendations, including proposals that call for:
— Increasing law enforcement presence at schools;
— Strengthening existing campus security programs;
— Enhancing firearm safety; 

Valdez wins race to face Abbott in November gubernatorial election
AUSTIN — Former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez defeated Houston businessman Andrew White, the son of the late former governor, Mark White, in the May 22 Texas Democratic Party primary runoff. 
Valdez, the first Latina to win a gubernatorial primary in Texas, will run against incumbent Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who is seeking a second four-year term, in the November 6 general election.

Governor speaks about issues related to shooting at high school
AUSTIN — Local, state and federal law enforcement on May 18 responded to a shooting that left 10 people dead and 10 others injured at Santa Fe High School near Galveston.
One of the school’s 1,400 students was taken into custody, authorities said. 
Gov. Greg Abbott ordered flags to half-staff until May 22 in memory of those who lost their lives in what he called “probably the worst disaster to strike this community.”

Paxton requests federal funding for women’s health program 
AUSTIN — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton last week asked two federal agencies to move quickly to fund the state’s Healthy Texas Women program. 
The program was cut off from Medicaid funding by the Obama administration in 2012 after the Texas Legislature enacted a law preventing taxpayer money from going to abortion providers. 

Paxton leads multi-state lawsuit challenging DACA program
AUSTIN — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on May 1 filed a lawsuit against the federal government to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
The attorneys general of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina and West Virginia joined Paxton in the lawsuit.
Paxton and the other attorneys general urged the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to declare DACA unlawful and to stop the federal government from issuing or renewing any DACA permits in the future.

Abbott urges local officials to apply for Harvey funds
AUSTIN — Mayors, county judges and emergency management officials in communities impacted by Hurricane Harvey received letters last week from Gov. Greg Abbott, urging them to take advantage of available funding.
Some $500 million in funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program are available now, Abbott said. These funds are in addition to the more than $10 billion in Community Development Block Grant funds approved by Congress and awarded to Texas earlier this year.

Governor announces extension of hurricane-related sheltering assistance
AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott on April 17 announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had granted Texas' request to extend the deadline for Hurricane Harvey survivors to apply for transitional sheltering assistance. 
The deadline has been extended from April 23 to May 31. The transitional sheltering assistance program helps displaced individuals who are unable to return to their homes find short-term shelter in hotels or other temporary housing locations.