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Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on September 21 to issue no permits sought by data center projects until ERCOT and the Texas Water Development Board complete audits of the industry’s power and water use, his office announced. “Data centers must pay their own way, protect our grid and water, and complete the ERCOT and TWDB audits,” Abbott said. The directive states that no state agency shall move forward with regulatory approvals related to data center development until the audit information is acquired. That extends an August moratorium on grid connections to reach projects that generate their own power behind the meter and never come to ERCOT for a connection, the Texas Tribune reported. TCEQ must report its compliance to the governor’s office by October 19.
Austin. The Senate Committee on Economic Development took invited testimony Tuesday morning in Capitol Extension room E1.016 on three interim charges, the Legislative Reference Library’s hearing notice shows. Senators were directed to examine how cities collect and report hotel occupancy tax revenue and to assess whether it is “operating as intended,” to study the fiscal impact of multiple project finance zones under Chapter 351 of the Tax Code and whether new ones should require legislative authorization, and to analyze how artificial intelligence is changing the skills Texas workers need. Sen. Angela Paxton chairs the committee. No bill was before it.
West Texas. Abbott activated state emergency response resources on September 21 ahead of a flood threat across Far West Texas, the South Plains, the Panhandle, and parts of West Texas, his office said. Swiftwater rescue teams from the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service were staged along with the Texas Division of Emergency Management, the Texas Department of Transportation, the Department of Public Safety, Texas Parks and Wildlife, and the state’s utility, oil and gas, and environmental agencies.
Houston. The De’Ai Postpartum Care Center has agreed to a permanent injunction shutting it down, ending a suit Attorney General Ken Paxton brought in April over what his office described as a birth tourism operation serving Chinese nationals. Under the injunction the center must “cease its operations and stop facilitating births, including stopping the practice of coaching foreign nationals on how to evade immigration laws,” Texas Scorecard reported. The state’s suit alleged the operation facilitated more than 1,000 births.
Fort Worth. A state district judge dismissed a petition seeking the removal of Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare from office on September 21, KERA reported. Lon Burnam, who represented Tarrant County in the Texas House for 18 years, filed the petition after O’Hare removed him from an August 4 commissioners court meeting and barred him for 180 days. Judge James S. Johnson of the 431st Judicial District Court found the facts insufficient to show official misconduct or incompetency, writing that the allegations “present a dispute about the lawful scope of meeting control.”
Wales. The Welsh Government published its governing priorities through the next Senedd election in 2030, committing to “Formally request the devolution of the right to decide on the timeline, question, and process for an independence referendum,” which would move that power from Westminster to Cardiff, according to the document. First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth leads a Plaid Cymru minority government, and the party has ruled out holding a vote before that election, Herald.Wales reported. The same document seeks the transfer of powers over justice and policing, welfare, water, broadcasting, energy, ports, Air Passenger Duty, and the Crown Estate.
Alberta. Forever Canadian registered as a third party advertiser on September 21 and will campaign for Alberta remaining in Canada ahead of the October 19 referendum, joining Pathway to Independence on the register, Global News reported. “We will be imploring that every eligible voter votes in this particular election, and checks off option 1, that is option A, on question 10 for Alberta to remain in Canada,” said Thomas Lukaszuk, the former deputy premier who founded the group in July 2025. Question 10 asks whether Alberta should remain a province of Canada or whether the provincial government should begin the constitutional process required to hold a binding referendum on separating, according to Elections Alberta.
Bougainville. Seven years after Bougainvilleans voted 97.7 percent for independence, Papua New Guinea’s parliament has still not ratified the result, and Prime Minister James Marape has signaled the answer could be pushed back over a period of years rather than settled now, RNZ reported. The 2019 result was tabled in parliament in August. Both governments agreed under the Burnham Accord to be bound by whatever parliament decides and to keep talking in the meantime.
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