CAPITAL HIGHLIGHTS | Gary Borders Voter registration deadline for primary approaches
The deadline to register to vote in the Texas Democratic and Republican primary elections is Feb. 5. Voters, on March 5, will choose their nominees for president, U.S. Senator, all 38 U.S. House members from Texas and a number of other state and local offices, from the Texas Supreme Court to district attorneys, sheriffs and county commissioners.
Any registered voter can cast a ballot in either party’s primary election, but not both primaries in a single election cycle.
Successful nominees in the primaries advance to the general election. Early voting begins on Feb. 20 and ends on March 1.
Anyone who wants to confirm their voter registration status can go to
votetexas.gov.
Razor wire case goes to Supreme Court The U.S. Justice Department last week asked the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency ruling to allow Border Patrol agents to resume cutting razor wire installed by the state along the U.S.-Mexico border, The Dallas Morning News reported.
“Texas’s placement of the wire near the riverbank in Eagle Pass has proved particularly problematic for Border Patrol agents,” the justice department wrote in its plea. “By preventing Border Patrol agents from reaching noncitizens who have already entered the United States, Texas’s barriers in Eagle Pass impede agents’ ability to apprehend and inspect migrants under federal law.”
Gov. Greg Abbott has accused President Joe Biden of impeding immigration enforcement.
“Americans and courts will reject Biden’s hostility to immigration laws,” Abbott posted on X.
“Texas will continue to deploy National Guard to build border barriers and repel illegal immigrants.”
Community colleges get millions in additional funding
The state’s community colleges are receiving millions in additional funding under a move to merit-based funding and a departure from funding based strictly on enrollment numbers, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
House Bill 8 was signed into law by Abbott
Gary Borders
Texas Press Association
in June. Community colleges now are receiving state money based on how many degrees, certificates, transfers and “credentials of value” are awarded. The state budget is allocating $683 million in additional funds to the state’s 50 community college districts.
“It’s a game changer, not just for bottom line revenue that will come to our colleges, which is sorely needed, but it is a game changer again because it will really allow us to focus on what we’re really there for and that is to serve the students that grow in our colleges,” Ray Martinez, CEO of the Texas Association of Community Colleges, said.
More than a third of state agencies using AI
More than one third of state agencies are using some form of artificial intelligence, according to a 2022 report from the Texas Department of Information Resources.
The Texas Tribune reported agencies such as the Texas Workforce Commission are using chatbots to serve patrons.
In the TWC’s case, the chatbot was designed to help Texans sign up for unemployment benefits after the pandemic in March 2020 vastly increased the number of jobless claims.
“This is going to totally revolutionize the way we do government,” said state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake. Capriglione wrote House Bill 2020, which is aimed at helping the state make better use of AI technology. It creates an AI advisory council to ascertain how state agencies are now using AI and whether a code of ethics is needed.
Some of the current uses of AI by state agencies include translating languages into English, enhancing cybersecurity and fraud detection and translating speech into text at call centers.
Gary Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published a number of community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park. Email: gborders@ texaspress.com.
