Week of April 15-19
TPWD sued in attempt to block land swap with SpaceX
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is being sued in an attempt to block a land swap deal with SpaceX in South Texas, kut. org reported. TPWD in March approved pursuing an exchange of 43 acres of Boca Chica State Park to the company in exchange for nearly 500 acres of land that is now privately owned. SpaceX is negotiating to buy the land in order to make the swap with TPWD.
The South Texas Environmental Justice Network, the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas and Save RGV filed the lawsuit in a Travis County district court in early April.
SpaceX wants the land swap in order to expand its launch facility near the state park. The suit alleges TPWD violated statutory requirements to ensure mitigating harm to the land and considering alternatives to giving up park land.
Law requiring voter registration in high schools ignored
Texas high schools are required to distribute voter registration forms to teens who turn 18 or are about to do so, but only about a fourth of schools are doing so, according to an estimate from the University of Houston’s Election Lab.
The law was passed in 1983, according to The Tribune, but many administrators are unaware of its existence. The state has about 409,000 18-year-old citizens, according to 2022 census data.
The secretary of state’s office, which was tasked with creating the instructions to implement the law, does not track compliance.