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Over the last year, Texas Republicans enacted regulatory and legal changes, completely altering life for noncitizens in the state. Many of these changes were put forward in the state Legislature, where they failed. Now, these changes are being made a reality outside of the normal legislative processes. We talk with Eleanor Klibanoff, the law and politics reporter at The Texas Tribune.
Austin ISD is facing a giant budget deficit heading into the next school year. A draft of that budget was presented this week to school board members. We’ll look at where the deficit stands and the plans the district is considering to address it.
Plus, the Moontower Comedy Festival is bringing hundreds more comics to town over the next week and a half. We’ll hear from one of the performers.
Also: A seance with Houdini? Intrigued?
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The full transcript of this episode of Austin Signal is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.
Jerry Quijano [00:00:08] Texas Republicans enacted over the last year regulatory and legal changes that have completely altered life for non-citizens in the state. Many of these changes were put forward in the State Legislature where they failed. Now they are being made a reality outside of normal legislative processes. And the Austin School District is facing a giant budget deficit heading into the next school year. A draft of that budget was presented this week to school board members. Where the deficit stands and the plans the district is considering to address it, That’s on today’s show.
KUT Announcer: Laurie Gallardo [00:00:38] The Austin Signal is a production of KUT News, hosted by Jerry Quijano.
Jerry Quijano [00:00:43] Plus, the Moon Tower Comedy Fest is bringing hundreds more comics to town over the next week and a half. We’re gonna hear from one of the performers, and a seance with Houdini? Intrigued? Find out more, up next here on Austin Signal. Howdy out there. You are listening to Austin Signal, made possible by community-powered public radio here at KUT News. I’m your host, Jerry Kikano. It is Wednesday, April 8. We are glad to be part of your day. Travis County Commissioner’s Court voted this week to withhold 9% of Tesla’s tax rebate for 2020 through 2022 for, quote, partial noncompliance with certain provisions, end quote, in the company’s economic incentive deal with the That deal was finalized in 2020 and offers Tesla up to 80% of the largest portion of its county tax bill in exchange for spurring economic growth in the region. We have more about this story at KUT.org and over on the KUT app. During past legislative sessions, bills aiming to bar undocumented immigrants from working or going to school here in Texas were proposed by state lawmakers but faced by partisan Push back. And ultimately failed. Now, however, those intentions are being made a reality, seemingly outside of the normal legislative process. And that’s upending life for many non-citizens here in Texas, including many immigrants who are documented. For more about this, we are talking with Eleanor Klybanoff. She’s the law and politics reporter at the Texas Tribune. Eleanor, thanks for talking with us on Austin Signal. Thanks for having me. So can you start by giving us an example of the things that have changed for not only undocumented immigrants, but refugees and DACA recipients here in Texas?
Eleanor Klibanoff [00:02:39] So it’s a whole wide range of things. I mean, most recently we saw the state change its rules around who can get license for jobs. So there’s certain jobs used to be licensed by the state. And it’s wide range things from dog breeders to electricians, to massage therapists. And it used to if you were a non-citizen, you could get those licenses. If you were DACA recipient, if you had asylum or were a refugee and they’re considering changes, the agency that oversees that has just. Approved changes to that that will really upend that whole system.
Jerry Quijano [00:03:12] And these changes haven’t been made through the legislature, so how are they being enacted, and why is that significant to the story?
Eleanor Klibanoff [00:03:19] So a lot of these changes are happening through the regulatory system, which essentially means that these agencies that have a decent amount of power and are supposed to sort of enact rules, generally in response to legislation or federal changes are doing this separate from that. So they’re saying, we’re just gonna take a second look at this on our own. These agencies operate independently, but they are part of the executive branch and they’re run by these commissions and boards that are made up of appointees by Governor Greg Abbott and his office must approve any of these rule changes. So it’s really happening through the governor and the executive branch versus the legislative branch, which is the typical process.
Jerry Quijano [00:03:58] What have you heard from immigrant rights experts about these changes?
Eleanor Klibanoff [00:04:03] Know, they say that it’s been very confusing and created this culture of fear where even when some of the rules don’t necessarily apply to every single group and some, you know, in some cases, DACA recipients are not impacted or refugees are not affected, that people are sort of proactively opting out anyway because they’re confused by the rules or they’re worried about getting, you now, caught up in a system that they don’t intend to be caught up in. And so we’re seeing a lot of people sort of proactively chilling their own rights. And then also I think there’s a lot of concern just widely about what the economic impact of this will be. You know, if you can’t get general contractor’s license, if can’t truck driver’s license. If you can get people to register their cars if they don’t have the proper documentation, the ripple effects are expected to be pretty significant.
Jerry Quijano [00:04:46] The Texas legislature has been under Republican control all three houses for more than three decades now. In your story, you talk about how the Texas Republican Party kind of run against maybe what policies were at the beginning of this 30-year tenure in the Texas legislature. Can you talk a little bit more about that?
Eleanor Klibanoff [00:05:04] I think while we’re under this sort of unprecedented immigration crackdown on all these different facets of life, it’s easy to feel like this is how Republicans have always felt about this issue. But what we know is that Texas Republicans actually approved a lot of these policies originally, put them into place, or chose to not undo them over the last several decades, in large part because of the economic concerns. I think there was a feeling when they first sort of created this program to give undocumented students in-state tuition. That we don’t want undocumented people to not have a path to education because many of those people, they have to sort of attest that they wanna become documented, they wanna to become citizens. You want those people to be contributing members of society. There’s the Supreme Court decision, Plyler v. Doe, that says that undocumented children should get free K-12 education like all other children do. And you don’t want a whole generation of children who haven’t been educated. That’s a huge problem that you potentially have to deal with when of what will those people do for work? And the deterrence idea that, oh, we wanna make sure that these families don’t feel like they can bring their children here, that Texas is not hospitable to them. The potential trade-offs of that, Texas Republicans used to feel like, well, if they’re here, let’s figure out how we can make sure that they are contributing to society.
Jerry Quijano [00:06:26] The economic concerns that you stated. Are we seeing those impacts already?
Eleanor Klibanoff [00:06:30] I think some of this has been slow to unfold, but there’s a lot of sort of predictions of what the impact both of these official policies might be. Right. I mean, if we don’t have truck drivers, if you don’t people registering their cars, if we all people being able to get insurance on those cars, we don’t people being able to work in these industries where we do need people to be working, expected to be very significant economic ripple effects. But I think in the what we’re already seeing is ways in which people are choosing to not do things that maybe they actually still have a right to do. So. The Texas Tribune just had some great reporting from my colleagues about undocumented immigrants not going to seek health care because they feel like they’re worried they might get caught up in a system. And the state has said that they are tracking the number of undocumented immigrants that are using hospitals. So there’s this feeling that people are being tracked, that people are being monitored, that they might be caught up an ICE detention if they go to a hospital or seek health. The economic ripple effects of things like that are expected to be very significant.
Jerry Quijano [00:07:29] You mentioned Plyler versus Doe, can you give us a refresher and why would a challenge to that case be significant?
Eleanor Klibanoff [00:07:39] So Plyler v. Doe was a 1982 Supreme Court case that originated in Texas, as many of our most interesting Supreme Court cases do, when Texas passed a law that allowed school districts to charge tuition or exclude undocumented students from public school. That was challenged, and the Supreme Court essentially said that students have a right to public education irrespective of their documentation status. And the justices said like… Really lean on the economic part of this, which is, you know, these children do not ask to be brought here. They did not bring themselves here. And we are setting ourselves up for a huge problem if we don’t educate them and set them on a path towards self-sufficiency. This has been sort of just an accepted law of the land for several decades now. And recently, conservatives have really begun to coalesce around the idea of overturning Plyler with the idea that, you and To do that in all likelihood, you would need the legislature to pass a, a law, which then would get challenged. And then they feel like if they took it to this Supreme court, they’d have a better chance at getting that overturned, sort of like we saw with the Dobbs decision. So that would take a couple of steps. It’s not imminent, but you know, what we’ve seen so far is like anything is possible.
Jerry Quijano [00:08:56] We have been speaking with Eleanor Klippanoff. She is the law and politics reporter at the Texas Tribune. We’re gonna have a link to her latest reporting in our show notes. Eleanor, thank you for your time.
Eleanor Klibanoff [00:09:05] Thanks for having me.
Jerry Quijano [00:09:13] The Austin Independent School District is facing a significant budget deficit ahead of the upcoming school year. A preliminary budget draft was presented to board members during last night’s work session. For more about the financial outlook for AISD, we are chatting with Greta Diaz-Gonzalez-Vasquez, KUT’s education reporter. Hi Greta.
Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez [00:09:32] Hi Jerry!
Jerry Quijano [00:09:33] So tell us, what do we know about the district’s budget for next year?
Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez [00:09:36] Yeah, so I think it’s very important to say that it was a draft of the preliminary budget because that means that there’s still a lot of work to do. This is the initial version of the budget that is used to guide decision-making. And so like you said, it’s a $181 million budget deficit and the district is working to reduce it and Superintendent Matias Segura said last night that he was very clear that it would come with sacrifices.
Matias Segura [00:10:01] We’re no longer at a point where we can protect all things, that the cuts are going to impact our ability to serve our students in a way that we see best.
Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez [00:10:12] So the district’s chief financial officer, Katrina Montgomery, presented four scenarios for cuts, and in three of them, the district would end up with a balanced budget. But these scenarios include strategies that would help save up $132 million, and that includes, of course, cuts.
Jerry Quijano [00:10:29] Yeah, yeah, and how would those cuts impact schools in AISD?
Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez [00:10:33] Yeah so the district is expected to have staffing cuts at campuses so that will that means it will impact teachers and that would be more than 22 million dollars in cuts in elementary and middle schools and the biggest savings would come from other staffing reductions what they called departmental reductions and that will give a relief of 40 million dollars And there’s also other campus cuts that would include include moving librarians into supporting roles. They would also reduce the number of campus monitors at middle schools and the number nurses on campuses. And other strategies include cuts on travel and cell phone expenses. And another big one that would be 23 millions would be current vacancies.
Jerry Quijano [00:11:17] Okay, well, as you mentioned, this is a budget draft that was presented to board members, trustees. What did they have to say?
Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez [00:11:24] Yeah, so they asked the district to be thoughtful about what cuts will be made, like if they will have long lasting impacts, if it’s easy to just undo them and maybe in a couple of years be able to bring something back. But they also said to be thought about which populations would be affected by the cuts. And for context, this year as we reach the end of the budget, the district is a $49 million budget deficit, that is $30 million more than they had projected. It’s mostly because they were relying on revenue from property sales that didn’t happen, and so trustee David Kaufman said that this time around he would be very wary of one-time influxes of cash like selling property.
Eleanor Klibanoff [00:12:05] Mhm.
Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez [00:12:06] So he said that the district was really working on making long lasting changes that could help balance the district in the future that wouldn’t just be like a year by year try trying to keep up with the budget.
Jerry Quijano [00:12:18] Yeah, trying to see something a little bit more long term planning for the district. Okay, so this was only a draft of the budget. What happens now? What sort of considerations happen next?
Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez [00:12:28] Yeah, so we have a couple of months left. So over the next few months, district officials and trustees will hold bi-weekly work sessions. And these sessions are open to the public. So you can see them on the AISD YouTube website or their YouTube channel, sorry. And so the district is also set to present a preliminary budget on April 21st, which is seeing more of the decisions they have made and then a final or that they’re proposing they haven’t made them. And our final recommendation on May 21st, and then the Board of Trustees is expected to take a vote in mid-June, and the new budget starts in July 1st. And I gotta say, also during the next month, AISD officials will hold virtual meetings with community to hear feedback about the proposed cuts.
Jerry Quijano [00:13:15] Okay, well, it sounds like a story that is going to continue to develop, and I’m sure that you will continue to cover it. We’ll bring it to you here on Austin Signal. We have been chatting with Greta Diaz-Gonzalez-Vasquez, KUT’s education reporter. We’re going to have a link to her latest reporting in today’s show notes. Thank you, Greta.
Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez [00:13:32] Thank you, Jerry.
Jerry Quijano [00:13:34] And thank you out there for tuning in to Austin Signal, making us part of your Wednesday. We hope you’re having a nice one out there. We’ve got a lot of arts coverage coming up after the break. Stay with us. This is Austin Signal, welcome back. Comics from around the country are filtering into Austin this week for the Moon Tower Comedy Fest. It started 15 years ago and since then has grown into one of the biggest comedy events in the country. Takes place across 11 venues, lasts a week and a half, and one of folks on the lineup is Angelina Martin. She spoke with Texas Standard host David Brown about the festival and recounted how cutting her teeth and making little money. Ended up making for some pretty good material.
Angelina Martin [00:14:30] I’ve mainly worked service industry, jobs and such. So when I realized that I didn’t know much in taxes, I figured they wouldn’t miss it. So I started doing jokes about not paying my taxes and then they got broadcast online and I realized, oh, I’m gonna get found out. So far no one’s knocked on my door.
David Brown [00:14:54] Well, this week hundreds of comics from around the country are going to be joining you for the Moon Tower Comedy Festival taking place in the Texas Capital City. Tell us a little bit about why you like this festival so much. A lot of folks do.
Angelina Martin [00:15:09] Yes, I’m super excited. I love Moon Tower so much. It’s always been such a huge part of the Austin comedy scene and the national comedy scene in general. It was such a badge of honor when I got on the festival when I was a few years in to stand up and have been on several years since then. And it’s just so validating.
David Brown [00:15:36] Now you produce a show called Slide and the DMs that Moontower picked up this year. Tell us a little bit about that show. What is that?
Angelina Martin [00:15:44] The whole premise of the show is that standups or sometimes other local celebrities like musicians will come on the show and share strange messages that people have sent them or sometimes that they’ve sent other people. And then a cast of improvisers do improv based off of their messages and it’s such a good time. That’s so clever.
David Brown [00:16:07] Well, you know, it’s interesting to see how Austin’s comedy scene has really exploded, it seems like, in the past five years. You’ve got venues like the Creek in the Cave and Joe Rogan’s Mothership. Where does the Moon Tower Comedy Festival fit into that scene?
Angelina Martin [00:16:23] Yes, it’s really interesting to see and experience the scene growing through the years because I did move to Austin specifically because I wanted to start comedy in a small but strong niche comedy scene. And now there is an issue presence, which is cool. I feel like the scene has kind of grown alongside me. It is more competitive to get stage time, but the stage time you do get, there’s more chances of something exciting and substantial coming from it.
David Brown [00:16:56] You’re going to be performing at a special showcase called the Texans. What should people expect there?
Angelina Martin [00:17:01] Um, yeah, it’s going to be the best of Texas comedy. One of my favorite performers are going to on it. So I am honored to be on that list and it’s just going to showcase the really high quality stand-up talent that Texas has had for many years. Uh, and it’d nice to show people that we have always had lots of talented. Comedians here, so it’s fun to see my friends get their shine.
David Brown [00:17:34] Is there anything that makes Texas comedy unique, is there something about being here in Texas that, I don’t know, sort of feeds that comedic spirit or no?
Angelina Martin [00:17:45] Well, I think, speaking to Austin more specifically, I do see, even though the city has changed so much in the past six to 10 years, especially, but I think the same kind of charm that brought people to Austin, which is like a combination of Southern hospitality and eccentric. Individualism. I think that shows in our comedy scene. So I have been charmed by the friendliness of Texans and I think it comes across in our comedians.
Jerry Quijano [00:18:27] That was comedian Angelina Martin talking with Texas Standard host, David Brown. We’re gonna have a link to more of that conversation in today’s podcast, Show Notes. Austin playwright Katie Bender used magician Harry Houdini’s archives to create her play Instructions for a Seance. She’ll perform the solo show next week during Fusebock Festival. For KUT’s art beat, Michelle Dahlenburg spoke with Bender about how writing the piece helped her escape.
Michelle Dahlenburg [00:19:12] Austin Playwright, performer and theater maker Katie Bender is showing me a collection of unusual artifacts.
Katie Bender [00:19:18] Hand cup.
Michelle Dahlenburg [00:19:21] These are not just any objects, they’re inspired by things that once belonged to Harry Houdini. These items will be used in Katie’s solo show, Instructions for a Seance, which she’s performing at Fusebox Festival next week. Inspired by the Houdini archives at the Harry Ransom Center, the piece explores themes of caretaking, ambition, and the urge to escape parts of your life.
Katie Bender [00:19:50] Everyone, close your eyes.
Michelle Dahlenburg [00:19:53] During the show, Katie attempts to summon the spirit of Houdini, the famous magician and escape artist.
Katie Bender [00:19:59] We gather here now to join together for the purposes of escape.
Michelle Dahlenburg [00:20:05] Katie started developing the show in 2015 as a graduate student at the University of Texas. Kirk Lynn was her professor and mentor.
Katie Bender [00:20:13] He knew that there was a lot of magic and magical realism in my plays and that I’ve always been interested in sort of taking audiences into the experience of moments of the unknown which magic does so beautifully.
Michelle Dahlenburg [00:20:27] Kirk recommended that she look into the Houdini archives.
Katie Bender [00:20:30] I was immediately struck by kind of the force of Harry Houdini’s will and ambition and was really drawn to these pictures of him mid escape. But also in his letters, he has such a particular cadence and it was something I started to really hear. I felt like I was kind of channeling Houdiny.
Michelle Dahlenburg [00:20:53] Katie started by writing a play for two actors, inspired by Houdini’s life. At the time, she was juggling writing and work while being a mom to her young daughter.
Katie Bender [00:21:02] Like I would have these long extended fantasies about like just going to Mexico alone and like disappearing into the sunset. And I realized that I was just craving a kind of escape because I felt like I didn’t have a release valve in my own life.
Michelle Dahlenburg [00:21:19] As she looked at the photos of Houdini mid-escape, Katie wondered, what does it mean to be an ambitious artist in late stage capitalism and try to raise a child?
Katie Bender [00:21:29] I came to this realization that it really was a seance to contact Houdini to help me get some of that escape in my life.
Katie Bender [00:21:38] And let us all now together reach out into the spirit world. Harry Houdini, are you here with us? Harry Haudini. Can you give us?
Michelle Dahlenburg [00:21:55] Early on in the seance, Katie asks her guests to write down what they wish to escape.
Katie Bender [00:22:00] And everybody has something, you know. U.S. Politics, inflation, war, headaches, back pain, stuff in my teeth, financial burdens, fundraising, the daily grind of a regular day job.
Michelle Dahlenburg [00:22:16] Katie’s been developing versions of instructions for a seance for over a decade. How have you changed while working on it?
Katie Bender [00:22:22] I really wanted to be known in the world as an artist and not a mother when I started this process and I feel very different now. I no longer want to escape my family. My family is really the space of love and support in my life and I need that.
Michelle Dahlenburg [00:22:39] Katie has performed versions of the seance all over the US, and she’s heading to Milwaukee to perform it at Milwaukee Rep this fall. But she’s especially excited to perform it right here in her hometown next week.
Katie Bender [00:22:50] Austin itself is I think spiritually a really powerful place just because of the connection between the Edwards Aquifer below us and the movement of the Colorado River and the spirits that I feel like are alive and well in Austin and especially in Texas Performing Arts. There are some real ghosts in that building. And as for Houdini? So far the seance has failed. I’ve never made contact with Houdini, but. What happens next is always something that is really surprising.
Michelle Dahlenburg [00:23:25] Piece points the audience to wonder and awe, like the kind magicians create.
Katie Bender [00:23:30] I hope that the guests leave the theater feeling newly engaged with what live performance can do. Gather a group of people together and commune together and try and escape our troubles together.
Katie Bender [00:23:55] And in this coming hour This is…
Michelle Dahlenburg [00:24:07] Katie will perform instructions for a séance at Fusebox Festival next week. Find more information and tickets at fuseboxlive.com. For KUT’s Art Beat, I’m Michelle Dahlenburg in Austin.
Jerry Quijano [00:24:20] And thank you for tuning in today to Austin Signal. That is it for today’s show. We’re gonna have a link to all the stories that we shared with you today in the podcast. Show notes, and you can always find more from our show at kut.org slash signal. Rayna Sevilla is our technical director and Kristen Cabrera is our managing producer. And I’m your host, Jerry Quijano. We will all be back with you tomorrow one o’clock right here on KUT and wherever you listen to your podcasts. Have a great day.
This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.
