In the April 26 episode, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller tells us how Texas farmers are being squeezed by a war 7,300 miles away, and whether rising fertilizer and diesel costs will impact your grocery prices. Corpus Christi Council Member Mark Scott discusses the city’s impending water emergency and why residents may have to cut water usage by 25%. And Texas Democratic Party chair Kendall Scudder talks about keeping the party focused during an internal fight over party leadership. 00:00 — Texas Political Headlines: EARLY VOTING, GOP TO DROP LAWSUIT, AND NEW AIR FORCE ONE 03:03 — INTERVIEW: Sid Miller on Rising Fuel Costs & Farming Pressures 07:28 — ROUNDTABLE: Debating the Gas Tax Suspension & State Infrastructure 10:16 — INTERVIEW: Councilman Mark Scott on Water Rationing & Usage Cuts 14:27 — INTERVIEW: Chairman Kendall Scudder on Texas Democratic Party Turmoil 18:13 — ROUNDTABLE: Redistricting Impact & The Battle for the Latino Vote
< spk_0 - 00:00:02.8900000 >
From tariffs to the rising costs of fuel and fertilizer, Texas farmers feeling the squeeze under President Trump's 1st 18 months. Ag commissioner Sid Miller straight ahead telling us that relief could be coming and politically says he's not done yet. Plus President Trump's new Air Force One spotted in the sky over North Texas as contractors prepare to put it in service by the summer.
< spk_0 - 00:00:31.7700000 >
Confusion could return to Dallas County. Republicans now suing to stop countywide voting just weeks before the runoff. Dozens of Texas Democrats say it is time for their state chairman to move on, but Kendall Scudder is emboldened, not embattled. What will be his measure of success? And a worsening water crisis in Corpus Christi.
< spk_0 - 00:00:56.9790000 >
Tuesday council there considers forcing customers to cut usage by 25%. Council member Mark Scott on what exactly that might look like.
< spk_1 - 00:01:10.1990000 >
Inside Texas Politics with Jason Whiteley starts now.
< spk_0 - 00:01:14.7690000 >
Thank you for being here. Let's begin with some of the top political headlines happening across our state. Just days left for early voting in local elections, and billions of dollars are at stake here. This is the May 2nd election next Saturday. Early voting though ends on Tuesday, and Dallas ISD with one of the biggest asks of voters across the state, wanting voters to approve $6.2 billion in bonds, the largest in state history. Cities across the state also choosing mayors and school boards.
< spk_0 - 00:01:43.7200000 >
One month until the primary runoff May twenty-sixth, and confusion could return to Dallas County. In March, Republicans decided to switch away from countywide voting for both parties. That left a lot of voters scrambling. Republicans plan to return to countywide voting for the May 26th runoff, but after Chairman Allen West resigned, Dallas Republicans now suing to stop that idea. So if you plan to vote May twenty-sixth, double check where to go.
< spk_0 - 00:02:10.6790000 >
And a new Air Force One for President Trump spotted in the sky over North Texas. The 747-800 spotted landing in Greenville just east of Dallas. Video shared by a council member there shows the jet now painted all white. Remember, this was the jet that Qatar gave to President Trump as a gift. The military and private contractors in Greenville plan to put it in service hopefully by the summer.
< spk_0 - 00:02:35.1490000 >
Let's start right now though, 7000 miles away from Texas in the Strait of Hormuz, a global standoff there is having a real impact on Texas farms. The cost of diesel is up, fertilizer a lot more expensive too. This is a double hit for farmers already reeling from President Trump's tariffs. Our first guest is Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller telling us all this could result in another farmer bailout. Commissioner, it's good to see you again here. It's good to be with you again.
< spk_0 - 00:03:03.3200000 >
We're seeing diesel up shortly, nitrogen, uh, fertilizer up more than 30% in some cases. At what point do you think this will cause farmers to cut back on production?
< spk_2 - 00:03:13.9600000 >
Well, we've already seen the effects of that. Our, our corn acres are down. That requires a lot of nitrogen, a lot of fertilizer, uh, being replaced with soybeans. Soybeans are legume. They make their own nitrogen, so less fertilizer costs. We've seen a little bit of, of, of shift there. Uh, it's not quite as bad as it seems on the surface. So our wheat crop all fertilized last fall, last year's prices. We can get by one year with cutting back a little bit, but you can't do that two or three years in a row, and I, I think this is temporary.
< spk_2 - 00:03:43.0500000 >
I think we're gonna get that straight, uh, worked out straight to Hormuth worked out with Iran, and, and one way or the other. It's, it's, uh. Hopefully we'll be out of this by summer.
< spk_0 - 00:03:53.3090000 >
Farmers are big supporters of President Trump. Do you think that they are fans of the first year and a half between tariffs and this issue in Iran?
< spk_2 - 00:04:02.0290000 >
You know, they're sticking with him. You know, he, he, he gave them the bridge loan. He propped them up when they didn't make any money. He made sure they stayed in business. They appreciate that. They they'd rather have a uh a profit than a handout, but, uh, they, they'd rather not go out of business either. So he's making sure that they're, they're made whole.
< spk_0 - 00:04:18.3290000 >
Are, are, are farmers, it seems so far away. are farmers upset about this? Are they taking a side on this?
< spk_2 - 00:04:24.1490000 >
Oh, we definitely noticed it, but we're used to. Adversity. That's all we live, we live with adversity, you know, with floods, famines, feast, you know, fires, hail storms, but you know, tariffs, uh,
< spk_0 - 00:04:33.6650000 >
this isn't a s, but this isn't a natural issue here, and it still affects the bottom line,
< spk_2 - 00:04:38.5840000 >
of course it does. Of course it does. Now we've got, uh. The administration is doing everything it can for the farmer. There's probably another tranche of bridge payments out of the tariffs. They're taking several billion dollars of the tariffs and spending it on infrastructure for fertilizer before we can make our own fertilizer. So that's, that's going into the works this week.
< spk_0 - 00:04:58.8590000 >
OK, so you and I. Talked last time about there might be a bailout for farmers because of tariffs. Will there be a second bailout because of what's happening in Iran? Uh,
< spk_2 - 00:05:07.7340000 >
they haven't announced it, but I believe that will happen. Wow.
< spk_0 - 00:05:10.7740000 >
How much money are we talking about here, do you think? You know,
< spk_2 - 00:05:12.6540000 >
the last one, I believe was $13 billion so something in that range probably would happen again.
< spk_0 - 00:05:17.6540000 >
And Commissioner, people will be watching this and saying, listen. The Trump administration got itself into both of these situations, the tariff situation and the Iran situation here. These aren't natural disasters, hurricanes, or something else that's impacting. These are droughts. What do you say to folks who say that, you know, farmers shouldn't, the Trump administration should not be paying out farmers for something that. That it's to blame for.
< spk_2 - 00:05:39.7950000 >
Well, here it's a matter of national security. We, we have to keep our farmers' business because already we're in big trouble. Remember on, on one show we talked about the agriculture trade deficit. We're buying $50 billion more food than we're selling. We've never, that's never happened before. So we gotta get out of that situation and letting farmers go deeper and deeper in debt is, is not a, not a solution.
< spk_2 - 00:05:59.7690000 >
So, uh, we have alternatives to fertilizer, uh, that we're using if you live near a, a poultry farm, a dairy, uh, feedlot, a hog operation, you can use, you know, chicken manure or manure out of those for, for fertilizer. So, so, so that's an option. You can change crops, you know, plant a legume that makes its own nitrogen. So we, we, we're kind of like the marines. We, we, we improvise and we adapt and we overcome and overcome.
< spk_0 - 00:06:23.9200000 >
Before I let you go, political question, what's next for you?
< spk_2 - 00:06:26.7900000 >
You know, we've, I've got, I've had a life before politics. I, I, I run cattle. I've got a horse operation. I've got a landscape construction. Uh, I've got a 120 acre tree farm. Uh, I'm gonna continue my TV show, so look, look forward to that. We've got, uh,
< spk_0 - 00:06:40.6700000 >
are you done with politics?
< spk_2 - 00:06:41.9200000 >
Uh, probably not. I've got some fight left in me. I doubt it. I doubt it seriously.
< spk_0 - 00:06:45.8800000 >
You think we'll see you on a, on a ballot in
< spk_2 - 00:06:47.8800000 >
the
< spk_0 - 00:06:48.0400000 >
future?
< spk_2 - 00:06:48.3590000 >
I'm not gonna say no, never say no, but, uh, uh, uh, be nice to take a break just to be honest with you.
< spk_0 - 00:06:56.0890000 >
Commissioner, always good to see you. Thank you for the time.
< spk_2 - 00:06:57.7790000 >
Thank you. God bless.
< spk_0 - 00:07:00.1300000 >
So just how critical is the situation for farmers? We went to visit one for this week's episode of Y'alllitics. Jane Foster, you saw there from Lucas, Texas, pulled the curtain back on the impact of all of these rising costs. Does he still support the president considering this? This episode of Y'alllitics ready to download right now wherever you get your podcasts. Here on this program though, let's bring in the round table to talk about the politics of this. Bud Kennedy is here from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Natalie Haddad, political reporter, WFAA in Dallas, and Ashley Goodow.
< spk_0 - 00:07:28.9890000 >
Uh, political director at KU in Austin, Ashley, let's start with you here and Sid Miller, he was calling for a suspension of the state's motor, motor, uh, fuel tax, the gas tax, immediately to get some relief. What's interesting though here is we saw James Tallarico, Democrat, calling for the same thing. We saw Gina Hinojosa, the Democrat running for governor, calling for the same thing. It's not often we see Sid Miller on the same side as Democrats.
< spk_3 - 00:07:53.4700000 >
No, and I don't think there's any other Republicans, right, who are saying, oh yes, we should suspend this tax, um, you know, I, I see the reason I, I can understand why they're calling for it, but I think it's just highly unlikely to happen. Yes, there have been two other states that have suspended their state gas tax to try to give people a little help during this time where we're facing those, uh, higher gas prices, but that. Those taxes fund our roads, right, and the work we need done on our roads, so I just don't see it
< spk_0 - 00:08:22.6900000 >
happening. Yes, Natalie, there appears to be no momentum for this.
< spk_4 - 00:08:25.6900000 >
Yeah, I think when you have, you know, to piggyback what Ashley was saying, when you have administration supporters like Sid Miller and then Democrats like Gina Hinojosa and James Tallarico entertaining the same idea, you know that people are really feeling the pain. They've probably got people reaching out to them saying help us. But I think at the end of the day this is, I don't want to say it's less about policy alignment. Like it's great that there's policy alignment here, right? I think that's what everyone is looking for some bipartisanship, but this also just sounds really great politically. This is some relief that people understand and want.
< spk_4 - 00:08:54.5200000 >
And if these are the people who say they're going to give it to us, they are going to trust them.
< spk_0 - 00:08:58.4400000 >
And Bud thoughts on that and Sid Miller saying he's not done with politics. Well,
< spk_5 - 00:09:02.0700000 >
Jason, you know, if you drive. Hybrid suspending the gas tax doesn't help you that much. I mean this helps the people, the big trucks like the farmers. That's who Sid wants to help, you know. He really needs to get on the same. He and Secretary Brooke Rollins grew up 30 miles apart, Stephenville and Glenrose. They need to get on the same page about tariffs and what the White House wants to do for America's farmers. Indeed.
< spk_0 - 00:09:23.4500000 >
So guys, back to you in just a moment here. A lot more ahead including this. When we come back, could Corpus Christi become the first US city to run out of water? Leaders there are now considering forcing customers to cut their usage by 25%. But could water rationing or even rolling shutoffs be next? Council member Mark Scott joins us in just a moment.
< spk_0 - 00:09:50.9500000 >
Also a defiant Kendall Scudder facing calls to step down as Texas Democratic Party chair, he's pushing back and so are hundreds of his supporters. Inside Texas politics back in a moment. Welcome back to Inside Texas Politics. Now to Corpus Christi and a growing water emergency. Folks there are already forbidden to water lawns and wash their cars.
< spk_0 - 00:10:16.5900000 >
On Tuesday though, Corpus council will discuss forcing residents and businesses to cut their water usage again this time by 25%. But what would that look like? Our next guest, Councilman Mark Scott from Corpus. Councilman, welcome back to the program. Let's start with this Tuesday vote. Uh council is considering whether to require customers, uh, water customers to cut their usage by 25%. Explain what that's going to look like.
< spk_6 - 00:10:46.2100000 >
If you have a household of 2 people, uh, then you have to operate in the same manner as a household with 10 people. So if you have a lot of kids, right? You're gonna have a much harder time getting to that 25% reduction. So, and we're gonna tweak those, I think, over the next couple weeks.
< spk_0 - 00:11:03.7000000 >
But have you heard from constituents who are a little concerned about how they might meet this?
< spk_6 - 00:11:07.5590000 >
Oh yeah, yeah, I started hearing from them yesterday. I was at a, a bank meeting this morning, and that one's actually, you know, bank customers are trying to figure out how they can continue to run their businesses with this reduction in water usage, um.
< spk_6 - 00:11:24.0900000 >
The, the residences are a big issue in that if you, if again, if you're a family of 4, you're probably already using 25% less, but if you're a family of 689, you know, then that's where I think the modeling needs to be adjusted. The way it works now is everybody's expected to hit that one number which is 5200 gallons a month and if you think you're gonna be over and it's because of some extraordinary situation, 6 kids.
< spk_6 - 00:11:54.0990000 >
You fill out a form, you bring it to the city, the city goes, OK. Yeah, you can use whatever 7000 gallons. The issue is gonna be, uh, how do you, the, the, the art, the, the, the, the, the system set up to handle all those inquiries is gonna be, I think, extra extraordinarily difficult for the city.
< spk_0 - 00:12:15.5900000 >
Explain how this would, I, I, I don't, I don't go out and check my water meter. Maybe under a situation like this I'd have to, but, but how, how am I supposed to make sure that I don't go over that mark? Yeah,
< spk_6 - 00:12:25.8590000 >
and let me tell you that is a real problem in Corpus Christi because there really is no way to check your water usage on a daily basis. The, the technology in our system doesn't exist. Other communities like San Antonio, I'm told has a. Has a technology, I think it's Fe F U M E and it's a box that you put over next to your water meter and then it sends a Wi Fi to your system and tells you what's your water use that way you could track, right?
< spk_6 - 00:12:54.7290000 >
Uh, we don't have that technology, so you, at the end of the month, right, if your number is 5200 gallons. And you get your bill and it's 7000, it's too late. And so that's a real criticism I have of our system.
< spk_0 - 00:13:10.7290000 >
If this passes on Tuesday, how will it be enforced?
< spk_6 - 00:13:14.8590000 >
Yeah, so, uh, number one, Tuesday was just a workshop that was kind of a heads up, you know, council, here's what we think we're gonna do. We gave some input, uh, staff's gonna come back with amendments to the, to the ordinance, uh, that meet what we want.
< spk_6 - 00:13:31.5700000 >
Uh, but the way you would implement it is simply, um, you just tell the world that this is your new number, and then you track their monthly usage, and the reality is if you go over, you could be fined, and if you are over regularly, theoretically, your water could be turned off, but my sense is no, no resident, especially is gonna have their water disconnected.
< spk_0 - 00:13:56.9190000 >
Councilman, it's good to see you. Thanks for the insight. Good luck on the votes.
< spk_6 - 00:13:59.8900000 >
Absolutely.
< spk_0 - 00:14:00.5200000 >
Have
< spk_6 - 00:14:00.6090000 >
a
< spk_0 - 00:14:00.6900000 >
good day, sir. All right, let's turn now to what's happening inside the Texas Democratic Party. Dozens of Democrats signed on to a public letter demanding the state party chairman Kendall Scudder not run for reelection. It seemed to backfire a little bit because 1000 other Democrats came to Scudder's defense. So what is going on in a year that's looking up for Democrats in the state? That's where we began with the chairman Kendall Scudder. Mr. Chairman, welcome back.
< spk_7 - 00:14:27.4290000 >
Hey, thanks so much for having me, Jason. I
< spk_0 - 00:14:29.1090000 >
appreciate it. Dozens of Democrats signed this letter wanting you to not run for reelection. What is this about?
< spk_7 - 00:14:34.9890000 >
Well, I'm sure that there's a handful of people that don't like somebody in public office. I don't think that's really news. But I will say after that came out that letter that seems to be largely disgruntled former staff members, the grassroots of this party really rallied, and I'm so grateful for it.
< spk_7 - 00:14:53.0390000 >
Nearly 1000 folks signed on to a letter, precinct chairs, county chairs, SEC members, elected officials, party leaders across the state, basically saying that, you know, it's Undeniable that the party is in a better spot now than it was a year ago, and we need to be focused on the task at hand right now and that's winning some elections. Uh, this inner party squabbling, it doesn't get our party any further down the road.
< spk_0 - 00:15:15.2290000 >
Your decision to relocate party operations probably led to a lot of this, the, uh, closing the Austin office as headquarters and, and, and spreading that out across the state, opening the satellite offices, Amarillo, the Valley, and other places like that. Looking back though, do you think that was a strategic mistake to close Austin as headquarters?
< spk_7 - 00:15:33 >
Well, I'm going to push back on your question because that's not entirely accurate. We decentralized the party. We still have an office in Austin. We have offices now in Houston, Austin, DFW in Amarillo, and in Eagle Pass, and no, that's absolutely not a mistake. This party, the Democratic Party, has to be a 254 county party. It cannot be a party that just camps out in urban areas and tries to call it a day. Doesn't matter how many consultants you walk into a room in Austin, they cannot buy their way out of this.
< spk_7 - 00:16:02.3120000 >
Problem when I came in as chairman, we only had 33% of our precinct chairs full. We had 20% of our county chairs vacant. We've been working to fill those. We've recruited and trained over 800 precinct chairs in the last year. We're going to continue to do that, growing the grassroots. It's about organizing in every county around the state, and I think having a presence across the state outside of Austin is important.
< spk_0 - 00:16:25.1510000 >
One of your big wins so far has been eliminating the party's debt, which we've talked about in the past. How much money is in the bank right now?
< spk_7 - 00:16:32.2500000 >
You'll have to wait for the finance reports to figure that one out, Jason.
< spk_0 - 00:16:36.0900000 >
But have you been able to fill the coffers? I mean, the party was in debt when you got there. Have you been able to replenish it at all?
< spk_7 - 00:16:41.3300000 >
Well, absolutely. I mean, we've been able to retire that debt and now we're expanding our organization. The goal of the organization is not to sit on as much money as we possibly can. The goal of the organization is to raise money in a sustained. fashion so it can grow in a sustainable long term way because when November is over, the Texas Democratic Party will not be shutting its doors.
< spk_7 - 00:17:01.7700000 >
We are a 365 day a year even years and odd years party now and so I'm really excited about where we're at and financially I think we're on par to make that happen.
< spk_0 - 00:17:12.9690000 >
What happens if Democrats fail to gain ground in November?
< spk_7 - 00:17:16.4480000 >
Um, well, I, I, I'm not sure because I haven't really even considered that as an option. It's not. We, we,
< spk_0 - 00:17:23.7790000 >
we think either way that, that, that, that something will,
< spk_7 - 00:17:26.3380000 >
something will. Well, I'm saying it's not an option for us to not gain ground, and I'm, I'm not even gonna entertain that. Don't put that out in the universe, Jason. We, we are, are going to make strides. I think some of that will be down ballot. Some of that will just be margins. I think we'll flip some counties back into our direction. Uh, I think that, I think we're gonna be able to, to accomplish that, um. You know, it hadn't even occurred to me until you asked that question that we could not make progress this year. I'm, I'm determined. Uh, I'm rolling up my sleeves.
< spk_7 - 00:17:54.0790000 >
I may not be much of a show horse, but I'm a workhorse and we're gonna make it happen.
< spk_0 - 00:17:57.6800000 >
Mr. Chairman, good to see you. Thanks for having me. The roundtable is ready when we come back. All right, back now with the roundtable. Bud, Ashley, and Natalie all back with us here. Bud, let's start with you. And mid-decade redistricting, we saw what happened in Virginia made up what Democrats lost in Texas. We're waiting on Florida to happen, but Texas Republicans started this thinking they'd get 5 more seats here. Is this going to backfire on them?
< spk_5 - 00:18:23.5690000 >
Well, they thought they could get 5 more seats. Right now they, they're, they're pretty sure they'll still get, they're sure they'll get 2 more seats, maybe 3. The Democrats are putting up. Multimillion dollars in pushback. You know what's really important about this, Jason, you have $50 million being spent in these valley races. That's going to turn out a lot more Valley vote that's also going to vote in the, you know, Abbott and Hinojosa race and some of the other races.
< spk_0 - 00:18:47.8390000 >
Natalie,
< spk_4 - 00:18:48.8100000 >
you know, I think Bud is right. I think that redistricting certainly bought Republicans time, but that doesn't necessarily mean a whole lot when we're seeing. The political winds shifting and now we see states like Virginia all the way to the west doing redistricting of their own and really backfiring and I think this goes to show that this really comes down to the momentum of the parties and I think the Democrats have it right now.
< spk_0 - 00:19:09.6700000 >
I think she's probably right, at least if we judge this, you know, with how it's going now, Ashleigh.
< spk_3 - 00:19:15.8190000 >
Yeah, I mean, I think it's gonna be interesting. This is what happens when you try to play with these maps. Is this not funny? I mean, we could not have possibly thought that Texas was gonna be the one to do redistricting and then everybody else was just gonna sit on their hands and watch it happen. Like, no, this is what was going to happen. And, and, to Bud's point, you, you may not even get those 5 seats. There's no guarantee, especially when you look at some of the polling among Latino and Hispanic voters right now.
< spk_0 - 00:19:40.1500000 >
And Bud, talk,
< spk_5 - 00:19:41.3190000 >
go ahead, Jason. What's important is we are waiting on the Supreme Court decision on the Voting Rights Act. If the Voting Rights Act is restructured, then there'll be redistricting again. The Republicans can cut Texas back to as few as 2 Democratic seats.
< spk_0 - 00:19:54.3900000 >
And Natalie, you know, the House Democrats super PAC, you know, already dedicated $22 million to try to, a big chunk of money to try to, you know, get 3 seats in the Rio Grande Valley. South Texas here that's that's a heck of a commitment.
< spk_4 - 00:20:07.4200000 >
That's a lot of money, and I think it goes to show that what parties are understanding about the valley is that it is not a red area and it is not a blue area. It is a persuadable area. I don't want to just call it purple. I want to call it persuadable, and I think they know that and that's why they're putting in that crazy amount of money into it.
< spk_0 - 00:20:22.9000000 >
What should we expect, do you think, Ashley, from Republicans who are determined to hang on to the gains they got in 2024?
< spk_3 - 00:20:30.3490000 >
I just, I don't know. I think the Republicans are holding their cards close to the chest right now. It's still early, right? It's April. We've got a long way until we get to November. I do think we are going to see something big from the party to try to win over voters down in the valley, but I don't think they want to show their hand just yet. Yes,
< spk_0 - 00:20:46.4690000 >
indeed, so, but, you know, the machine hasn't really cranked up like
< spk_5 - 00:20:49.1890000 >
Ashley said. Well, I think the ice. The crackdown has cost the Republicans a lot of the older voters, particularly the older Tejanos in the Valley whose families have lived there for generations, who voted for Trump, but they don't like what's happened to a lot of other older people around them who've gotten locked up.
< spk_0 - 00:21:04.1420000 >
And Natalie, the tariffs are still lingering out there as well. Oh
< spk_4 - 00:21:06.8330000 >
yes, it's, I think it goes beyond just tariffs too, and I think it's, you know, with the immigration issue. Kind of circling back to that, I think that like what Bud said and what Ashley was alluding to that this is really going to shift how Latinos vote in the valley because we're also losing our workforce in these areas as well.
< spk_0 - 00:21:21.9550000 >
Yeah, and a lot of time to go. Ashley, good to see you, Natalie. Bud, thank you so much. A lot of time to go until November. We'll be watching it all here on Inside Texas Politics. We hope to see you back here next Sunday. Have a great day.