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AUSTIN — Governor Greg Abbott on Nov. 19 approved Legislative Budget Board proposal transferring the funding needed for the Texas Secretary of State’s office to establish a new Election Audit Division. This division will be conducting comprehensive forensic au dits in the State of Texas. Currently, the Texas Secretary of State is conducting the largest forensic audit in the country.
Read moreHOUSTON — Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick filed paperwork to seek a third term and released the following statement:
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The state’s power grid could still be at risk under extreme winter conditions, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, but should operate fine under normal conditions. The Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy, issued Friday, said the grid can meet normal and even moderately challenging weather conditions but could break down if the state faces winter storms such as occurred last February. During Winter Storm Uri, much of the state experienced prolonged blackouts. “We expect there’s a 10% chance that demand will exceed what ERCOT considers to be their extreme peak load scenario,” Andrew Dessler, a professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M who has been researching the grid, told KUT.org. “In my opinion that’s not a great worst-case scenario. One in 10 things happen all the time.” The assessment from ERCOT came just days after a similar assessment from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, which said Texas is under “extreme weather risk” if winter weather conditions exceed projections, spawning rolling blackouts as experienced last winter. KUT reported recently that natural gas producers and suppliers can opt out of any mandates to winterize their production facilities, while power plants must do so under a bill passed by the Texas Legislature during the regular session.
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The filing period for the 2022 Texas primary elections opened on Nov. 13, allowing candidates to file with their respective party chairs for spots on the March 1, 2022, primary ballot. For primary elections, candidates must file their applications with their state party chairs. If a district is solely contained within a single county, a candidate would file with the county chair.
Read moreAUSTIN – Governor Greg Abbott today signed Senate Bill 8 (SB 8) into law, allocating the nearly $16 billion federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding awarded to the State of Texas earlier this year.
Read moreStatewide Voter Registration Certificates expire at the end of December 2021. New cards will be mailed out the first part of January 2022. The new cards will be blue. If you do not receive a voter registration certificate by mid-January, please notify The Colorado County Elections Office at 318 Spring Street, Room 101 in Columbus or call (979) 732-6860.
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Evan Young, a former clerk to the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, has been appointed to the Texas Supreme Court by Gov. Greg Abbott. He will replace Justice Eva Guzman, who resigned in June to run for Texas attorney general. “Evan Young is a proven legal scholar and public servant, making him an ideal pick for the Supreme Court of Texas,” Abbott said. “Evan’s extensive background in private practice and public service will be a fantastic addition to the bench, and I am confident that he will faithfully defend the Constitution and uphold the rule of law for the people of Texas.” Young is a partner at the Baker Botts law firm in Austin and previously served as counsel to the U.S. attorney general, where he spent a year on detail to the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. He earned his law degree from Yale.
Read moreAUSTIN— In honor of both active and retired military, daily entrance fees at Texas State Parks will be waived for all dayuse visitors Sunday, Nov. 14.
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