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TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION
STATE CAPITAL HIGHLIGHTS
U.S. Senate candidates Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee, and Democratic nominee James Talarico traded jabs last week over rising gas and diesel prices, The Texas Tribune reported.
At a gas station in Carrollton, Talarico called on Paxton to condemn the Iran war and join his call to suspend federal gas and diesel taxes. Hours later, Paxton said the gas tax should be permanently eliminated.
Talarico first called for pausing the gas tax in April until prices fell below where they were when the war began in February, when the U.S. and Israel conducted joint air attacks against Iran. He has urged Paxton to join his call several times since.
He has termed the war a “disaster” and blames it for exacerbating affordability issues for Texas families.
“Ken Paxton supports this disastrous war in Iran that’s driving up our costs,” Talarico said. “Today, I am calling on him to oppose this war and support my plan to suspend the federal gas tax and the federal diesel tax so we can provide Texans some necessary relief.”
Paxton responded by saying he supports suspending the gas tax permanently.
“Repealing those taxes would put money straight back into drivers’ pockets every time they fill up, and Washington should fund roads by cutting waste, not by taxing Texans at the pump,” he said.
The federal gasoline tax is 18.4 cents per gallon of gas and 24.4 cents per gallon of diesel. Nearly all the tax collected goes in the Highway Trust Fund for federal highway and mass transit spending.
The average price in Texas last week was $3.94 per gallon for gasoline and $5.90 a gallon for diesel, according to AAA.
ABBOTT LIFTS RESTRICTIONS ON DYED DIESEL Gov. Greg Abbott has lifted restrictions on dyed diesel usually allowed only in off-road and industrial equipment to lower diesel prices, the Houston Chronicle reported.
He issued a disaster proclamation last week expanding its use. Dyed diesel is exempt from fuel taxes. Abbott also requested a waiver to the Clean Air Act from the Environmental Protection Agency to get around federal limits on which diesel can be sold.
“Texas agriculture and freight run on diesel,” Abbott said in a statement. “Record prices put both industries at risk and raise costs for every Texas family. Farmers and truckers can now use dyed diesel on Texas roads, and fuel, crop, and timber loads can move at a higher weight.”
The three-term governor is locked in a close reelection contest in the Nov. 3 midterm election dominated by cost-of-living concerns. His Democratic opponent, state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, had earlier called for suspending all diesel taxes, which Abbott said is not in his power to unilaterally do.
VOTER SNAFU HIGHLIGHTS DIFFICULTY IN REGISTERING A Texas backlog of at least 200,000 voter registration applications and updates was caused by a state error. Now election officials are scrambling to respond before voting begins.
Texas is one of only eight states that doesn’t have universal online voter registration. The state Department of Public Safety’s web portal is the only option for registering online or updating a voter registration. That option was ordered by a judge after a six-year legal battle.
Votebeat and The Texas Tribune recently reported a flaw in the system where DPS failed to send counties thousands of voter applications and updates submitted through its web portal, dating back to October 2025. There have been bipartisan calls for an investigation into what went awry. State officials so far have provided few details.
“We live in a system that has been designed to make things harder for voters,” said Sarah Chen, the senior supervising attorney at Texas Civil Rights Project. “We don’t have online voter registration, except for this teeny little carveout, and because of the teeny little carveout, now we have these technical glitches resulting in this backlog.”
Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published community newspapers in Texas during a 30year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park.
