cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/30443526

At least one company uses computer models to inspect these photos and flag moldy roofs, askew tree branches and missing shingles. Insurers then notify homeowners their policies may not be renewed.

While it’s unclear how many homes are under surveillance, the number could be massive — and growing. One aerial imaging technology company common among insurers says it has eyes on 99.6% of the country’s population.

Faced with more extreme weather and costlier damage to homes, insurers are increasingly relying on new technologies like aerial images to evaluate policies — and in some cases, to forgo risk. Between 2020 and 2023, the rate at which insurers in Texas chose to not renew home insurance policies almost doubled.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/30407255

Link to Bill with text: https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB10

Recently SB10 passed the House to soon be signed by Greg Abbott. Public schools will have to abide by the law and display a copy if one is donated. What are some ways to comply with the law but also piss off the TX lege?

Nothing about color scheme is mentioned in the bill, or font size, or text orientation, or specifics for the frame. I have a few ideas but I also don't want to punish teachers and students with things like a poster made of iron or a gigantic one that covers an entire wall.

Wind turbines have become a financial lifeline in rural areas, but state legislators are now targeting them

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/30170441

Lawmakers can override the governor’s vetoes only during the session in which the bills are rejected, according to experts’ interpretation of the law. But typically, governors veto bills after sine die – the last day of session.

In 2023, Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed a nearly record-breaking 76 bills and one budget item— widely seen as his way to punish members for failing to pass his priority bills. Just two bills were vetoed during the session, in the window that lawmakers could have voted to override them.

Now, some lawmakers want to change that process. A proposal by Sen. Brian Birdwell would amend the Texas Constitution to allow legislators to briefly meet after the regular session ends to reconsider bills that passed by more than two-thirds of members.

A 2024 war among Republicans tilted the House to the right. Now more closely aligned with the Senate, Speaker Dustin Burrows has accelerated action on bail, school vouchers and social issues.

With tensions boiling over in the final days of the 2021 Texas legislative session, Rep. Dustin Burrows, a Lubbock Republican and a top House lieutenant, went out of his way to throw shade at the Senate and its leader, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, for letting too many House bills languish.

From the back microphone on the House floor, Burrows rhetorically asked then-Speaker Dade Phelan if he was aware that “less than 50% of the House bills that we sent over were passed by the Senate” — much worse than the success rate for Senate bills sent to the lower chamber. It came shortly after Patrick had flayed the House for killing several of his top conservative priorities.

Four years later, Burrows’ first session wielding the speaker’s gavel is winding down with little of the same inter-chamber acrimony. Conservative priorities that had failed in session after session in the House, from private school vouchers to stricter bail laws, have cleared the Legislature with time to spare. So have once-thorny issues, like property tax cuts, school funding and immigration, that in years past had generated bad blood between the chambers and needed overtime sessions to address.

Many of those now-imminent laws were in the sweeping agenda Patrick unveiled near the start of the session in January, marked by several issues that Gov. Greg Abbott also championed as “emergency items.” All but a handful of Patrick’s priorities — from conservative red meat to top bipartisan priorities to the lieutenant governor’s own pet issues — have made it across the finish line or are poised to do so in the closing days of the session, which ends June 2.

The lack of discord reflects the collegial relations Patrick and Burrows have worked to maintain from the start; Burrows’ apparent desire to avoid drawing Patrick’s wrath and the political damage it inflicted upon his predecessors; and the reality that the House, thanks to the turnover wrought by a bruising 2024 primary cycle, is now more conservative and more receptive than ever to Patrick’s hard-charging agenda.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/30218735

12 republicans joined all 60 democrats in the Texas house to vote to formally repeal the gay sex ban that was ruled unconstitutional in 2003

First time the Texas house has passed any repeal attempts. It still faces steep odds in the Texas senate

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/29762276

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/29324469

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20250508114222/https://boltsmag.org/texas-1925-abortion-law/

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/21747943

It was a tough night for MAGA-aligned candidates in Texas. In the May 3, 2025, local elections, voters across the state decisively rejected far-right candidates, particularly in school board and city council races. From Tarrant County to Collin County, and from San Antonio to Dallas, communities chose leaders who prioritize public education, inclusivity, and pragmatic governance over culture wars and partisan agendas. This widespread shift signals a growing resistance to extremist politics at the local level.

Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to pull state funding after the City of San Marcos placed a resolution in support of a ceasefire in Gaza on its City Council agenda for Tuesday.

The resolution, proposed by council members Alyssa Garza and Amanda Rodriguez, calls for an “immediate, permanent and sustained ceasefire in occupied Palestine,” an “arms embargo on the state of Israel” and “recognition of Palestinian sovereignty and protection of constitutional rights.”

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/28742362

Why is Cornyn running these ridiculous border security ads on YouTube? Midterm elections aren’t until November 2026.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/21125802

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/28402969

"The Texas Senate voted 22-9 to pass Senate Bill 819. The bill places restrictions on solar and wind power projects, requiring new permits, assessing fees, adding new regulatory requirements and placing new taxes on the projects.

The legislation “adds onerous requirements to new solar projects that would not apply to other energy sources except wind,” said the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA).

Texas has the nation’s largest utility-scale solar market – a $50 billion industry that has enough solar installed to power nearly 5 million homes. The bill is expected to slow development, raise Texans’ utility bills, harm rural economies, worsen grid reliability and encroach on private property rights.

“This bill will kill renewable energy in Texas,” Jeff Clark, CEO of Texas Power Alliance, said during public testimony.

Senate Bill 819 requires solar and wind projects of 10 MW or larger to obtain a permit from the Texas Utilities Commission to interconnect to the grid. It requires projects to report a notice of applications and hold a public meeting for proposed projects.

The bill also places a new environmental impact review by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and established an annual environmental impact fee for permit holders.

SB 819 also requires all permitted facility equipment for solar projects be at least 100 feet from property lines and 200 feet from habitable structures unless it obtains a written waiver from the property owner.

The bill also prohibits property tax abatements for solar or wind projects of 10 MW of capacity or more. Property tax abatements are a common regulatory structure for utility-scale solar projects nationwide.

“We cannot afford to turn away from the pro-energy and pro-business policies that made the Lone Star State the energy capital, but that’s exactly what SB 819 does,” said Daniel Giese, Texas director of state affairs, SEIA. “We urge the Texas House to reject this bill.”

If approved by the House and Governor, the bill is expected to raise electricity costs for Texans. Clean energy is estimated to save ratepayers in the state $11 billion over the last two years.

The restrictions are also expected to lower grid reliability. Solar is the largest source of new generation added to the grid in Texas, and experts from the state’s grid operator ERCOT, the Texas Comptroller’s office, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas credit solar and storage for helping the grid remain stable during heat waves and cold snaps.

For rural economies, a slowed solar and wind power industry means less tax revenues. Research from the University of Texas estimates that existing and planned solar, wind and energy storage projects in that state will contribute $20 billion in local tax revenues and $29.5 billion in landowner payments over the life of the projects.

The bill also claws back the right of landowners in Texas to make land use decisions on their private property.

“The state telling landowners that they can’t use their land in the way they see fit is antithetical to the Texas identity,” said SEIA.

The solar industry employs over 12,000 people in Texas. It is expected to add the most solar among all states over the next 5 years, with a projected growth of 41 GW, according to SEIA. For context, the United States has about 224 GW of solar installed cumulatively in its entire history through 2024.

The bill next heads to the Texas House of Representatives for vote. If approved, it will be sent to Governor Greg Abbott for his signature."

• How much money on big energy causing this through lobbying?

Thanks for wasting our taxpayer money on this political theatre, you prick. There's real crises happening right now, and you're over here going, "Buh duh statues make me horny!" JFC.

cross-posted from: https://discuss.tchncs.de/post/34366704

Interesting article about all the crappy energy legislation being pushed and passed in Texas.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/27836793

Summary

Texas hospitals are treating children with vitamin A poisoning linked to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s promotion of the supplement as a measles treatment.

At Covenant Children’s hospital in Lubbock, patients with measles showed abnormal liver function due to excessive vitamin A intake.

Kennedy, the U.S. health secretary, claimed vitamin A dramatically reduces measles mortality. Experts warn his messaging confuses parents and downplays the proven protection of the MMR vaccine.

The U.S. faces its worst measles outbreak in decades, with nearly 500 cases across 21 states and two confirmed deaths.