Good morning and happy Labor Da—I mean—Opening of Dove Season Weekend. You could feel the heat starting to give way this week. 72-degree mornings. It’s almost a spiritual experience as we are freed from the heat’s bondage.

I listened to a pretty interesting (and short) podcast on the economic impact of Texas high school football. It’s not political, but invites some important policy questions. Worth a listen.

• It’s 66 days until the November 7, 2023 general election and 184 days until the March 5, 2024 primary elections.

• Only 3 days until the Texas Senate convenes for the impeachment trial of Ken Paxton.

• The average 30-year mortgage rate in Texas this week was 7.45%, which is up again over last week.

• A barrel of West Texas Crude Oil closed yesterday at $85.55.

• As of yesterday, Texas has 124 active wildfires affecting 12,147 acres.

• Meanwhile, 98% of the state is in some stage of drought while nearly 61% of the state is in severe drought or worse.

The Week’s Theme: When We Turn District Judges into State Lawmakers

Did you hear that?

It was the sound of the books closing and a new fiscal year beginning in Texas. The State’s fiscal year starts September 1. That big ‘ol budget the Legislature just passed this year? Agencies started spending that money yesterday.

That fiscal calendar is also why a barrage of new laws take effect on September 1. Which, in turn, is why we see a slew of headlines in late August after a session year. “District judge blocks [so-and-so law].”

Here are some of the recent orders we’ve seen (for more background, you can read the August 19 issue):

• A state district judge declared HB 2127 to be unconstitutional.

• A federal district judge said at a hearing that he intends to block HB 900.

• A federal district judge issued a temporary injunction blocking SB 12.

• A federal district judge granted an injunction blocking HB 1181.

I’m purposefully not getting into the specifics of each of these laws. You can read plenty about that elsewhere. What I’m more interested here is the issue of statewide (or nationwide, for federal law) injunctions. These are injunctions—orders from a judge compelling or restraining conduct—that a local judge gives but that apply beyond that judge’s district boundaries.

In other words, should a district judge, aka the local trial court, be able to issue orders that restrain or compel conduct beyond that court’s district boundaries and apply to people and businesses not made a party to the suit?

Or put yet another way, should a local district judge be able to unilaterally declare that a brand new law—duly passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor—may not take effect?