Skip to Content

Your Voice, Your Vote

Texas is separating families at the border in apparent ‘harsh and cruel’ shift in policy, immigration attorney says

Originally Published: 02 AUG 23 18:39 ET Updated: 02 AUG 23 23:52 ET By Rosa Flores and Sara Weisfeldt, CNN (CNN) — Texas has separated at least 26 migrant family units on the southern border since July 10 under Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star border initiative, according to Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid immigration

Continue Reading

As Texas lawmakers tussle over property tax relief, it’s unclear whether renters will benefit

As a deal to cut Texas’ high property taxes continues to evade Republican lawmakers, Democrats in the Legislature unveiled a long-shot tax-cut proposal Thursday that targets relief to a group of taxpayers who have been largely left out of the debate: renters. Tenants make up more than one-third of the state’s households. They pay, via their monthly

Continue Reading

Biden administration moves ahead with Medicare drug price negotiations amid industry lawsuits

(CNN) — Undeterred by a growing number of lawsuits, the Biden administration on Friday released revised guidance for Medicare’s new drug price negotiation program. The latest guidance outlines how the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will negotiate with drugmakers to reach agreement on a maximum fair price for a selected medicine, the agency said.

Continue Reading

Former El Paso congressman Will Hurd, a Trump critic, announces 2024 Republican presidential campaign

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Texas congressman Will Hurd, a onetime CIA officer and fierce critic of Donald Trump, announced on Thursday that he’s running for president, hoping to build momentum as a more moderate alternative to the Republican primary field’s early front-runner. Hurd represented District 23, which spans from El Paso to San Antonio. Hurd, who

Continue Reading
El Paso City Manager Tommy Gonzalez

City manager’s office spent more than $100,000 in taxpayer money on city-issued P-card since 2022

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — El Paso City Manager Tommy Gonzalez’s office spent more than $100,000 using taxpayer-funded procurement cards (P-cards) from January 2022 to April 2023, according to documents obtained by ABC-7. The documents show each transaction made during that time period on two separate P-cards, one belonging to City Manager Tommy Gonzalez and

Continue Reading
Former District 6 City Rep. Claudia Rodriguez P-Card Purchases

How did former District 6 City Rep. Claudia Rodriguez spend $7,555.48 of taxpayer money in one day?

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — Questions still remain how former District 6 City Representative Claudia Rodriguez spent $7,555.48 in one day using taxpayer money in October 2022. Rodriguez made eight transactions using a taxpayer-funded purchasing card on the same day the city representative hosted a city-sponsored Halloween event, but there is no indication those purchases

Continue Reading
El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser

Mayor concerned El Paso elected officials, city staff spent $500K+ on taxpayer-funded purchasing cards in 2022; former Rep. Rodriguez spent $7,500+ in one day

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — In an exclusive interview with ABC-7, El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said he’s concerned about the amount of spending on city procurement cards, or P-cards. “I want to look at that and make sure that the citizens of El Paso know that we are looking at it and we will

Continue Reading

Ken Paxton updates: Texas House impeachment vote will be an intra-GOP showdown

AUSTIN, Texas (The Texas Tribune) — The Texas House intends to take up a resolution to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton at 1 p.m. Saturday, according to a memo from the House General Investigating Committee. Citing Paxton’s “long-standing pattern of abuse of office and public trust,” the memo said it was imperative for the House to proceed with impeachment

Continue Reading
El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser with ABC-7's Erik Elken

Mayor Leeser: Auditor felt ‘pressured’ to ‘change his report’ on taxpayer-funded gas card audit

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said in an exclusive interview with ABC-7 on Friday that the city’s chief internal auditor felt ‘pressured’ to change his report looking into the 2022 usage of taxpayer-funded city gasoline cards by city council members. Chief Internal Auditor Edmundo Calderon’s report found “excessive” use of the gas

Continue Reading

A bill that would have required Texas public schools to display the Ten Commandments has failed

(CNN) — The Republican-controlled Texas State House failed to advance a controversial bill on Tuesday that would have required public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom. Senate Bill 1515 was effectively killed early Wednesday morning after House lawmakers did not meet a midnight deadline for a vote that would have advanced the

Continue Reading