Texas State Representative @CarlTepper joins @bradswail on Texas Talks to discuss some of the major issues being examined by the House Select Committee on Governmental Oversight. Tepper discusses the committee’s examination of district attorneys and criminal prosecution, including the scrutiny surrounding the Travis County District Attorney’s Office and possible approaches lawmakers could consider during the 90th Texas Legislature. The conversation then turns west to a highly unusual question: Could counties currently in New Mexico eventually become part of Texas? Tepper discusses interest from communities along the Texas-New Mexico border, the economic and cultural ties between those counties and West Texas, and what would have to happen for a boundary change to move forward. Finally, Tepper and Brad discuss oversight of taxpayer-funded contracts, nonprofits and local government programs, including questions surrounding homelessness spending in Austin and how governments should respond when publicly funded programs fail to meet their goals.

Nov. 3 ballots: $62.9B in local bonds, of which about $53.7B is for new developer districts. At least 35 school districts want operating rates above the cap. Early voting is open. @TexasObserver @tasb_news @accdistrict @mesquiteisdtx @GeorgetownISD @SpringISD @delvalleisd @teainfo @txcomptroller @DallasFed @dallascountytx @CyFairISD @austinisd @SocorroISD @Texas2036 @TexasTribune buff.ly/iYV5EMT

Hays County draft rules: data centers must meet water and power limits to get county incentives. Public hearing Oct. 27 at 11 a.m. No vote scheduled yet. @ercot_iso buff.ly/H390xvq

When Do You Shut a Government Program Down? | Rep. @CarlTepper @bradswail Austin spends about $35 million a year on homelessness and, Tepper says, it is worse. He contrasts that with a fight over $5 million for emergency services, then asks the question the hearing was actually about: at what point do you end a contract that is not delivering? Rep. Carl Tepper (R–Lubbock) on local governments, NGO contracts, people rolling off boards into the vendors they oversaw, and why he would rather not have had the program in the first place.

Texas diesel is at $5.77 a gallon, up $2.66 in a year. Grocery prices haven’t caught up yet, but economists say they’re likely to as freight contracts reprice. @michiganstateu @Truck_Research @NACSonline @USDOTFHWA @BLS_gov @USDA @TexasTribune @GregAbbott buff.ly/oeqUiX0

Comanche County Medical Center is slated for $6.8M in state rural health grants, but none of its three contracts is signed yet. Statewide, only 97 of 312 grant lines are finalized. @GregAbbott buff.ly/KXEdY9L

Caldwell County commissioners will hear a developer’s plan Thursday for Mirada, a 3,130-acre project off SH 80. The agreement isn’t public yet, and it’s still unknown how many homes are planned or who pays for roads and water. buff.ly/qfpb6hj

Texas is building a free academy for rural hospital leaders. The committee writing its curriculum first met in July and is abolished Sept. 1, 2027, done or not. No curriculum has been adopted yet. @TTUSystem @utsystem @txst @tamusystem buff.ly/XwhXEBK

PUC approves 180 MW Silver Basin data center behind a Pecos County solar farm, overriding TNMP’s objections. Amazon’s 1,200 MW Comanche Peak plan is next, decision by about Dec. 12. @TNMP @AEPTexas @amazonnews @ercot_iso @oncor buff.ly/GXbvbI7

The Counties That Fund New Mexico Want Out | Rep. @CarlTepper @bradswail Four oil-producing counties on the Texas line generate about a third of New Mexico’s income. Their legislators asked to join Texas. Santa Fe has not agreed. Rep. Carl Tepper (R–Lubbock) explains who started it, why those counties already live off Lubbock, what the process requires in both capitals and in Congress, and why he puts the land at about $11 billion. He also gets into frontier counties, six-man football, and what those few people produce.

A Texas Dispatch estimate finds McLennan and Nueces counties landfill or litter about 390 million bottles and cans a year, worth roughly $7.9 million in scrap. That’s more than the estimated cost of picking up litter in the Waco and Corpus Christi areas. @BushSchool @tamu @alpekofficial @NAPCOR_PET @KRIS6News @uscensusbureau buff.ly/g1fX0Cd

TSAHC board meets Tuesday, Oct. 20, on a reimbursement resolution for new mortgage bonds. No bond size or timing set yet. @TDHCA @GregAbbott buff.ly/kAlnkqC

A dose limit caps how much radiation a person absorbs from a jail body scanner. Does it answer whether they can refuse one? Texas is drafting its first rules for the scanners, and the draft goes out for comment Oct. 23. @TexasDSHS @TxCommJailStand @officialfbop @GovCanHealth buff.ly/H3wp7eN

Burnet and Webb petitions “appear to have enough signatures,” says Mayor Watson. Austin ISD says it can’t confirm until after the Oct. 30 enrollment snapshot. Results are due to TEA Dec. 1. @fox7austin @austinisd @teainfo @KUT buff.ly/OFUdhM4

Why are some policies tough on police but easier on violent offenders? Host @BradSwail sits down with @CarlTepper to discuss criminal justice policy, policing, violent offenders and how different approaches can affect public safety.

Early voting is open through Oct. 30. Dallas County and at least 8 school districts want tax rates above the voter-approval rate. A “no” means the lower rate. @dallascountytx @CyFairISD @NISD @ECISDtweets buff.ly/8FvnHYj

Should Texas Build a Statewide Prosecutor for One County? | Rep. @CarlTepper Governor Abbott wants a statewide prosecutor. Rep. Carl Tepper is not sure Texas should build one because one county keeps reelecting its district attorney. On the day of the House Select Committee on Governmental Oversight hearing, Tepper (R–Lubbock) walks through the case against Travis County DA José Garza, missing indictment deadlines, a three-strikes idea for repeat misdemeanors, and why he would rather not fund a new statewide office for a problem in one county. @bradswail

The Nurses Are Younger Now. The Patients Are Scared of the Bill. Allen Harrison says North Texas nursing supply has recovered, but the workforce is much younger than before COVID. The shortages now are technicians: CT, MRI, respiratory therapy. He makes the case for those jobs, pay, schedules, loan repayment, and sign-on bonuses, as something lawmakers should want in their communities. Asked what patients he will never meet would say about the system, he answers: they’re scared, they need someone to listen, and the billing is often as stressful as the care. The charge on the statement is not the amount they will owe, but nothing in the bill makes that obvious. Texas Talks, live at the Texas Hospital Association annual conference. @bradswail

Should repeat misdemeanors lead to a three-strikes policy? Host @BradSwail sits down with @CarlTepper to discuss repeat misdemeanor offenses, accountability and the potential impact of a three-strikes approach.

Hospitals Don’t Set Prices. Insurance Stopped Working Like Insurance. Allen Harrison breaks hospital costs into thirds (hospitals, drugs, physicians) and says hospital increases are mid-single digits, roughly in line with CPI. The harder point: hospitals post charges, they do not unilaterally set what they are paid. Medicare and Medicaid ignore charges. Commercial rates are negotiated. He also says the system guessed wrong on enhanced premium tax credits. Patients who lost exchange coverage mostly became uninsured, not commercially insured. Then the cost shift: employer coverage now works like prepaid care, while insurers push back toward catastrophic deductibles of $3,000 to $5,000. Texas hospitals collect about 40% of the patient portion. His system expects to write off more than $1 billion in charges this year. Texas Talks with Allen Harrison, Medical City Healthcare, recorded September 22, 2026, at the THA annual conference. @bradswail

What is the “homeless industrial complex,” and how does it operate? Host @BradSwail sits down with @CarlTepper to discuss homelessness, the organizations and systems involved, and how public resources are being used to address the issue.