This Week in Texas Politics: Texas winter weather, border crisis

AUSTIN, Texas - This Week in Texas Politics is closing out with a freeze watch, but it kicked off with the end of college football. 

FOX 7 Austin's Chief Political Reporter Rudy Koski and our panel of analysts took a look at the headlines from This Week in Texas Politics.

RUDY KOSKI: We'll start first with Holly Hansen with The Texan News. Holly, what's your headline for the week? 

HOLLY HANSEN: Well, the cold may be coming, but the heat is on for the Texas primaries. Parental choice and Paxton. 

RUDY KOSKI: Business analyst Annie Spilman. What's your headline for the week? 

ANNIE SPILMAN: Texas is U-Haul as top growth state for the third consecutive year. 

RUDY KOSKI: And political analyst Mark Wiggins. Mark, what's your headline for the week? 

MARK WIGGINS: Winter is coming, but will the Texas grid be ready now? 

RUDY KOSKI: Governor Greg Abbott kicked off the week by announcing that he would use a big campaign donation haul to target fellow Republicans who did not support his big-dollar private school scholarship- school choice idea. Mark, you crunched some of those numbers. What caught your eye? 

MARK WIGGINS: What I think is noteworthy is that the majority of that money you're going to find came from a handful of major donors and lobby groups while the special sessions were actively underway. 

HOLLY HANSEN: Polls show that supporters of school choice are surging, even amongst minority communities, and this is going to be a key issue going into some of the primary races. 

ANNIE SPILMAN: I'll tell you that the business community, um, will involve themselves in those races. And if those people had good voting records when it came to business issues, then those business and industry lobby will likely endorse those races. And I will say that, Governor Abbott has never been one of those politicians that would punish a business and industry group for endorsing a race that he might not be endorsing in or, you know, endorsing again. 

RUDY KOSKI: The border crisis remains a hot topic. And in the news, an interesting sidebar story was reported by the Texan News by Holly Hansen in matter of fact. And it involves a fight over the county judge in Harris County wanting to include illegal immigrants in their new guaranteed income program. Holly, that's your story. What's your reader's reaction? How are they reacting? 

HOLLY HANSEN: Well, their readers are already a little bit concerned about this idea of universal basic income giving a $500 a month stipend to some individuals with no strings attached. And there is a federal prohibition against giving these federal dollars to those who are in the country illegally. Um, what they may be trying to do, though, is circumvent that rule by letting a nonprofit organization, incidentally, the same one that operates the Cook County, Illinois, program in Chicago, because those nonprofit organizations are not required to ask about residence status when giving out benefits. 

RUDY KOSKI: You know, the conflict isn't just with city and county, it's city, county, state. Latest development happening just down, uh, in the Eagle Pass area. New twist Thursday, we learned that the state of Texas sees some parkland in Eagle Pass. Annie this is land that sparked a controversy last year between the state and the city over trespassing and arresting migrants that cross. 

ANNIE SPILMAN: I think what we'll see probably, uh, likely is a lawsuit, another suit from the federal government and, you know, likely even legal aid attorneys coming in. Um, I'd be interested to see the way this plays out. 

RUDY KOSKI: A Texas nationalist group this week asked the state Supreme Court to make the Republican Party of Texas to ask voters if the Lone Star State should go it alone again. GOP Chairman Matt Rinaldi called the push from A for a non-binding TEXIT idea a move that could open the door for Democrats who want electronic voter registration and mail in ballots. Looser restrictions on that, Mark. It seems Rinaldi has only himself to blame for all this. With all the extreme positions swirling around the Texas GOP, what's your assessment? 

MARK WIGGINS: Well, you know, he does raise an interesting technical point about that lawsuit. But I do think you're right, Rudy. I mean, TEXIT, though, is part of the state party platform, which is something that the Republican Party of Eisenhower and Reagan would find incomprehensible. But, I mean, this is the kind of stuff that the state party is focused on right now, instead of supporting incumbents and growing its base. And that does start at the top. 

RUDY KOSKI: State Supreme Court is getting a workout like the Alabama defensive unit, uh, during the playoffs, being asked to step up again. Attorney General Ken Paxton trying to block an order to have him deposed in the whistleblower lawsuit against him. Holly, have you seen any indication that this is going to, this fight, is going to factor into any of the GOP primaries? 

HOLLY HANSEN: Oh, I think it is going to factor. Look, this may exonerate the attorney general or it may prove that he's culpable here. 

RUDY KOSKI: You know, the polls also say that crime and safety are big issues for the voters here in the Austin area on our hike and bike trail. We had an attack involving a man with a machete raising questions about safety in our big cities, rebooting the debate over police funding and mental health funding. Annie is a crime. Is safety the big issue for the business industry? 

ANNIE SPILMAN: It's huge. I mean, you've heard more and more and more that retail theft, uh, has become a major issue, especially for small businesses. 

HOLLY HANSEN: And I think that draws a lot of bipartisan concern about what we're doing as far as criminal justice goes in this country. 

MARK WIGGINS: You know, there is going to be a downside consequence for progressive candidates on the ballot as a result of that. 

RUDY KOSKI: And let's wrap things up with our final word for the day. And, Mark, we'll start with you. What's your final word? 

MARK WIGGINS: Blustery.

HOLLY HANSEN: Choices. 

ANNIE SPILMAN: Windbreaker. 

RUDY KOSKI: And that is This Week in Texas Politics.