{"id":326145,"date":"2026-06-07T02:21:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T02:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/326145\/"},"modified":"2026-06-07T02:21:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T02:21:12","slug":"state-of-texas-governor-expands-emergency-declaration-to-fight-screwworm-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/326145\/","title":{"rendered":"State of Texas: Governor expands emergency declaration to fight screwworm threat"},"content":{"rendered":"

New episodes of State of Texas are on KXAN or the\u00a0KXAN+ app<\/a>\u00a0every Sunday at 8:30 a.m. Don\u2019t want to wait? Scroll down to continue watching this week\u2019s segments now.<\/p>\n

AUSTIN (Nexstar) \u2014 Texas and federal officials are working together to quickly contain the New World screwworm after the flesh-eating parasite was detected in a calf in La Pryor, roughly 100 miles southwest of San Antonio. It marks the first confirmed case on the Texas side of the U.S. \u2013 Mexico border in roughly six decades.<\/p>\n

The discovery has sparked concerns about potential impacts on the state\u2019s cattle industry, while officials emphasize there is no threat to food safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be clear about a couple of things, what we\u2019re dealing with is an infestation of animals. However, there is no food safety issue, full stop,\u201d Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday during a news briefing. \u201cThere\u2019s a food production issue, but not a food safety issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Officials say the primary tool for stopping the parasite has been used successfully in the past: releasing sterile flies to interrupt the screwworm\u2019s reproductive cycle. Abbott said the U.S. Department of Agriculture is already importing and dispersing sterile flies in South Texas and is building a new production facility in Edinburg to expand the effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe prevention requires the release of millions of sterile flies in targeted regions,\u201d Abbott said. \u201cThe USDA is now importing and dispersing those flies into South Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abbott also called for the Texas facility to be completed ahead of schedule, warning that the state cannot afford to face another summer with the parasite established in the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s critical that the facility, the new facility that\u2019s being constructed in Texas right now, be completed even faster,\u201d Abbott said.<\/p>\n

Secretary of State announces plans to step down<\/p>\n

Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson announced Tuesday that she would step down next month. Nelson has led the agency since 2023. According to a statement released by her office, Nelson will depart effective July 17.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been an honor to serve the people of Texas in this role,\u201d Secretary Nelson said in the statement. \u201cMy time as Secretary came at an important moment for Texas, and I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish as an agency in under four years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nelson\u2019s announcement comes five months before the November mid-term elections. The Secretary of State is the chief election officer of the state. Responsibilities of the office include overseeing voter registration systems and providing guidance to county election officials.<\/p>\n

Nelson, a Republican, had faced criticism from some in her party over her work to defend Texas election laws against a federal lawsuit by the Republican Party of Texas to create closed primary elections<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Texas currently allows anyone to vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary when they go to the ballot \u2014 a system known as an open primary. A closed primary would allow only voters who are registered members of a party to vote in that party\u2019s primary.<\/p>\n

Nelson said she did not oppose closed primaries, but believed it was her duty to present a defense of state election laws.<\/p>\n

\u201cContrary to several recent public postings, I have never expressed opposition to closed primaries, and I would gladly implement any statutory changes that the Texas Legislature sees fit to enact in the future,\u201d Nelson wrote in a statement in October 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the existing statutes were duly enacted by our Legislature. I put my hand on Sam Houston\u2019s Bible and swore an oath to uphold the laws and Constitution of this state, and I am bound to do that,\u201d Nelson added.<\/p>\n

The Texas Secretary of State is a statewide executive-branch official appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate.<\/p>\n

In the release from Nelson\u2019s office, Governor Greg Abbott called her \u201ca true champion for the people of Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am deeply grateful for her long and loyal service and outstanding leadership. She has represented our state with grace and honor across the globe, and Texas is better because of it,\u201d Abbott said in the release.<\/p>\n

Before serving as Secretary of State, Nelson served three decades in the Texas Senate. According to her office, she remains the longest-serving Republican in state history and the first woman to chair the powerful Senate Finance Committee.<\/p>\n

Cruz leads bipartisan push to overhaul college sports gains momentum<\/p>\n

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is making another attempt to bring order to the rapidly changing world of college athletics. The proposed Protect College Sports Act, led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), would create national standards for the business of college sports.<\/p>\n

The bill would grant the NCAA limited antitrust protection, shielding it from litigation around issues like the transfer portal, eligibility rules and compensation for student athletes.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, former Alabama football coach Nick Saban testified before the Senate Committee on Commerce in support of the legislation. Saban argued that the transfer portal and growing financial pressures have fundamentally changed college sports.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have guys transferring three times at three different schools in three years, and we act like that\u2019s not a problem,\u201d Saban told the committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cUniversities, athletes, and fans are pleading with us to do something about this issue,\u201d Cantwell said during the hearing.<\/p>\n

The Big Ten and Southeastern Conference, two of the largest conferences within the NCAA, have pushed back on the bill. In a joint statement, the conferences wrote the legislation would not \u201cmeaningfully preempt the patchwork of state laws or provide the protections needed to make and enforce consistent rules.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement did say both conferences were willing to work with lawmakers to make adjustments to the proposal.<\/p>\n

Cruz warned that failing to act could further concentrate power among the wealthiest athletic programs and threaten the long-term stability of college sports. \u201cChanging the law is the only way to fix the legal chaos that we\u2019re seeing right now,\u201d Cruz said.<\/p>\n

Texas congressman proposes AI tax to fund job programs<\/p>\n

U.S. Congressman Greg Casar (D-Texas) wants to start a \u2018New Deal-era\u2019 style job program. To pay for it \u2014 he wants to tax A.I. companies.<\/p>\n

Casar\u2019s proposal is meant to combat potential mass unemployment due to AI.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people involved in artificial intelligence can agree on one thing,\u201d Casar\u00a0wrote in an op-ed explaining his plan<\/a>. \u201cAI is coming for your job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Casar\u2019s plan calls for taxing AI tokens \u2014 the units AI companies use to measure processed data. By taxing a company\u2019s tokens and putting them into separate programs, Casar told Nexstar it would \u201censure that there are enough jobs for Americans so that the unemployment rate does not go up.\u201d<\/p>\n

James Dickey, former Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, worries Casar\u2019s approach would stifle the growing industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s see what is possible given this new ability. And then let\u2019s figure out taxation,\u201d Dickey emphasized.<\/p>\n

\u201c[When computers were new], the predictions were that the computers were going to do away with jobs,\u201d Dickey noted. \u201c[People thought] we would need no accountants once Excel was used everywhere. The reality is we have more bookkeepers and accountants now than we\u2019ve ever had before.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Austin-area representative believes AI tax revenue would allow for the creation of jobs in areas experiencing labor shortages.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should be funding the jobs that we need so badly, fixing our broken infrastructure, caring for our aging population, addressing our teacher shortage,\u201d Casar said.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New episodes of State of Texas are on KXAN or the\u00a0KXAN+ app\u00a0every Sunday at 8:30 a.m. Don\u2019t want…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":326146,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[116626,392,9538,11483,4517,27,29,28,2281],"class_list":["post-326145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-food-safety-issue","tag-greg-abbott","tag-jane-nelson","tag-secretary-nelson","tag-secretary-of-state","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-texas-secretary-of-state"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}