By Texas Senator Robert S. Nichols, Texas Senate District 3
This month, Houston and the Gulf Coast were devastated by Hurricane Beryl, which made landfall near Matagorda on Monday, July 8. Thirty-six Texans died and 2. 3 million were left without power after the typhoon, some for as little as two weeks. Hearings were held in Austin to gauge the reaction and hold corporations accountable for apps that didn’t perform well, CenterPoint Entergy added.
Here are five times that happen in your state:
1. BDO accepts broadband grant proposals
The Broadband Development Office (BDO) recently issued a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for $729. 9 million in state and federal funds. Bringing Online Opportunities to Texas (BOOT) is a competitive grant program aimed at building last-mile broadband connections that improve broadband service for Texans. The projects proposed for this investment will serve unserved and underserved locations in specific counties that demonstrate the greatest need for broadband service, as decided through the BDO. Eligible projects will be required to deploy broadband service to all unserved or underserved broadband locations in an eligible county. Eligible counties in East Texas include Liberty County, Trinity County and Newton County. Although those are the counties eligible for this program, there are other systems that expand to other areas. Rewards will be a minimum of $1 million and a maximum of $125 million. Proposed projects must be completed and operational by December 31, 2026. Applications must be submitted by August 26, 2024.
2. TRS reduces the year’s premiums
The Teachers’ Retirement System announced that it will reduce monthly TRS-Care Medicare Advantage premiums for next year. This is due to a surplus in the existing account of more than 3,000 million dollars. Retirees will see a relief in the cost of premiums next year to between $60 and $407 per month. In addition, TRS also offers a limited-time enrollment opportunity for eligible TRS-Care Medicare Advantage participants. Most Medicare-eligible TRS-Care retirees will be eligible for the limited-time enrollment opportunity. For more information, https://www. trs. texas. gov/Pages/Homepage. aspx.
3. Texas AG reaches $1. 4 billion settlement with Meta over biometric data privacy
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has secured a $1. 4 billion settlement with Meta, formerly known as Facebook, over the capture of private biometric data without the permission required by law. This is the largest settlement ever reached as a result of a single state action. This is the first lawsuit filed and a settlement received under the Texas Biometric Identifier Capture or Use (CUBI) law. Demand was focused on a feature added through Meta in 2011, first called Tag Suggestions. This feature used facial popularity software in virtually every single face contained in photographs uploaded to Facebook, which capture recordings of the facial geometry of the other people depicted. Such movements are considered to capture Texans’ biometric credentials, which is against the law unless the company notifies the user and obtains their consent first. Meta will pay the state $1. 4 billion over the next five years.
4. TWIA considers an increase of up to 10%
The Texas Storm Insurance Association (TWIA) Actuarial and Underwriting Committee has advised that the TWIA Board of Directors approve a rate presentation to increase rates up to 10% for 2025 TWIA policies. will meet on August 6 to review the committee’s recommendation, rate adequacy investigation and stakeholder comments when voting to make a decision on the required rate filing with the Texas Department of Insurance. The TWIA board is concerned about insurance prices for policyholders and has only raised rates once in the last five years. However, according to a 2024 actuarial study, TWIA rates would have to increase by up to 39% for residential policies and 45% for advertising policies to be actuarially adequate. TWIA invites the public to comment on potential rate increases, either virtually, at the user meeting, or prior to the meeting via email. The public is invited to attend the meeting at the Tremont House Hotel in Galveston. Email your written comments to PublicComment@TWIA. org. If you would like to make public comments verbally via Zoom, please find more information on how to log in at https://www. twia. org/.
5. SpaceX and Twitter are headquartered in Texas
Elon Musk has announced that he will move the headquarters of two of his corporations to Texas. SpaceX and X, formerly known as Twitter, are moving from California to Texas after California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law preventing schools from requiring workers to notify parents. if a student requests to use other pronouns. SpaceX will move from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, a complex and launch near Brownsville, Texas. X will move its headquarters from San Francisco to Austin.